


You're The One For Me

by giraffex, Mswriter07



Category: Oz - Fandom
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-03-01
Updated: 2012-03-02
Packaged: 2017-10-31 23:53:32
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 28,078
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/349708
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/giraffex/pseuds/giraffex, https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mswriter07/pseuds/Mswriter07
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Toby and Chris introduce Miguel and Ryan.  Life ensues and Sean and Tim are in the middle.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Miguel headed into the office, not much feeling like working today. The night before had been a bad one, another blind date gone wrong. He was lonely, that much was true, but he wasn't about to drop his standards for a mate. It didn't help that he was always around friends who were in serious relationships. His best friend and boss, Tobias Beecher, was a prime example.

"How'd it go with your date?" 

Miguel just stared at him; the look enough let Toby know it was less than thrilling.

Toby chuckled, sitting on the edge of Miguel's desk. "You know, Chris has this friend and I think the two of you would really hit it off..."

"No. I'm done dating for a while. I'm just gonna wait for someone to find me."

"You've been using that method for the last 3 years. Still single." Miguel shot him another glare, but knew he didn't really have much room to say anything. "Come on, Miguel...just come for drinks with us tomorrow night. Please? It can't hurt."

The Latino let out a sigh, reluctantly agreeing.

Miguel walked into the place Toby told him about and went to the bar and ordered a beer. He scanned the tables and found Toby's boyfriend Chris Keller sitting near some pool tables so he walked over and sat across from him. "Hey Chris. Where's Toby at?"

"He's playing pool."

Miguel looked over at the pool tables while he took a drink and found Toby circling a table, trying to find his move. He lowered his beer and asked, "What's he doing?"

"Trying to distract the other player. He's good at that." Chris grinned.

"Who's he playing against?"

"The guy leaning against his pool stick." Miguel looked closer and swallowed hard. "You see anything you like?" Chris asked.

Miguel swallowed again and said, "Shut up." He finished his beer and ordered another one.

When the waitress handed Miguel his fresh beer Chris said, "Slow down buddy. You don't want to be drunk when you first meet Ryan." Miguel glared and Chris said, "Toby worked hard convincing him to come out tonight."

"I'm fine Keller. It's been a long day."

A few minutes later the pool game was over, with Ryan winning the money pot. They went over to the table and Ryan looked Miguel over. Toby grasped Miguel's shoulder and said, "Glad you could make it tonight."

Ryan came over and held his hand out. "Ryan O' Reily and you are?"

Miguel shook his hand and said, "Miguel Alvarez. Nice to meet you."

"Likewise. You want to play some pool while we wait on some food?"

"Yeah. Sure." The two went over to the pool table Ryan and Toby played at and left Toby and Chris to their gossiping.

Ryan leaned across the table, collecting the balls to rack them up. Miguel stood off to the side chalking the end of his stick, using it as a cover to admire the lean stretch in Ryan's body. He had to admit, the other man was definitely easy on the eyes. Ryan was taller than him which, Miguel preferred, and his eyes were a pretty shade of green. He was highly attracted to his looks, now he just hoped his personality was just as good. Ryan grabbed his own stick, leaning down to break the balls. He stood after sinking two solids, glancing to Miguel. 

"So how do you know Toby and Chris?"

Miguel took aim and only got one of his balls in. "Toby's my best friend since college and I work with him. Chris sorta just came with the territory a several years back." 

Ryan chuckled at that, taking a sip of his beer. "So you're a lawyer too?"

"Paralegal. Not really my first choice in jobs, but it pays well and working with Toby is nice."

Ryan nodded, not really caring about the game too much, rather wanting to get to know Miguel more.

At the table after Chris ordered them a platter of wings and an appetizer mix, Chris said, "Looks like Ryan wants to eat him up already."

"Ryan won't eat him up tonight but tomorrow might be a different story."

"This plan of yours might actually work out. Then I won't have to hear O' Reily's shit at work."

"They're both stubborn and not into all the superficial crap so hopefully they'll find a little piece in each other worth holding onto."

"Or outside of each other." Chris chuckled with his knowing grin.

"Chris behave." Toby smacked Chris' arm.

"I'm just being honest. I can see the sparks from here so if Miguel's not blind he might be seeing them too."

When Miguel leaned down to make a shot he called he felt body heat against his back. He jumped a little and Ryan said gently, "It's okay. It's just me. I want to show you a trick for this shot you want." Ryan leaned back over Miguel and reworked Miguel's fingers holding the stick, feeling how soft they were and said, "If you barely clip the cue ball you should have a perfect shot."

Miguel swallowed and followed Ryan's instructions and both balls he wanted to go in went in easily enough. "Um…thanks."

"No problem." Ryan glanced at the table and said, "Food's there. You want to eat?"

Miguel straightened up and nodded. Then he got his voice back and said, "Sure."

The two cleaned up their game with Ryan declaring Miguel the overall winner with his last shot. Ryan kept a hand near his lower back as they walked back over to the table and helped him sit down before he sat next to him. They piled food onto their plates and the waitress sat fresh beers in front of the two.

Toby asked, "So who won?"

"Miguel with that last shot of his and then we saw the food so we decided we'd stop there and eat."

"You two seem to be getting along pretty well." Chris noted as he watched their reactions.

"Yeah. He's easy to talk to." Ryan replied. Miguel kept eating his food to avoid answering the question. He wasn't sure why his thoughts were wandering down the paths they were and he didn't find it unpleasant just a bit unnerving. Ryan sensed Miguel's mood shift and rested his hand on his thigh by his knee and asked quietly, "You good?"

"Yeah."

"Cool. Let me know when you're ready to get out of here and we can leave."

Miguel wiped his mouth and fingers clean of the sauce and said, "I'll be right back." 

He went to the men's room and at the table Toby said, "I should go check on him."

"No let me." Ryan said. He went to the men's room and found Miguel splashing water on his face and talking to himself quietly. He leaned against the far wall so he didn't scare Miguel and asked, "Are you okay?"

Miguel glanced at Ryan in the mirror and turned around. He cleared his throat and said, "I'm good. I'm just not used to double dating with Toby and Chris."

"Are we cool?"

"Yeah you've been fine. I'm glad we met but I think I need to go."

"Has tonight been this off-putting for you?"

Miguel walked over to Ryan and said, "No, no. It's been great but right now I don't think I can trust myself around you and Toby especially Chris are just waiting for something to happen so that they can tease me about it endlessly."

"Like this." Ryan said as he pulled Miguel against him and into a deep kiss. He pulled away and Miguel groaned. Ryan smiled and said, "I feel the same way. They made me ride with them so if you want to leave I can go make our excuses and we'll leave."

"After another kiss." Miguel said as he curled his arms over Ryan's shoulders and leaned up to kiss him. Ryan wrapped his arms around Miguel's waist and the two kissed for a few minutes before stopping for air. "Let's just go." Miguel said.

"Okay." The two snuck out of the bar and Miguel led Ryan to his car. 

They made it to Ryan's apartment in one piece, barely able to contain their need for one another. Ryan was fishing his keys out of his pocket, trying to unlock the front door, when Miguel's phone started going off. He groaned, already knowing it was Toby, trying to figure out what happened. He slipped his phone out of his pocket as discreetly as possible, seeing a text from Toby. 

'Make sure to wear a condom and have fun.'

He didn't bother replying or mentioning it to Ryan as they entered his place, making a mental note to talk with him at work in the morning. He hadn't intended to sleep with Ryan, he just wanted to be alone with him, find out more about him. He had a good feeling about the other man though he could just tell this wouldn't be a one time thing.  
Ryan finished locking up and turned back to Miguel, pulling him close. It had been a while since Ryan had even been this intimate with someone it felt so nice. He'd done the whole casual sex thing for a while, but he was tired of that. He wanted commitment, to settle down for once. He leaned down and pressed a kiss to Miguel's forehead before tipping his head back a little farther to reach his lips. Now that the urgency to get out of the bar was gone, both of them had a clearer mind about things. 

"Lemme take your coat. Want anything to drink?"

Miguel shrugged out of his jacket and handed it to Ryan. "Water’s fine, thanks."

As Ryan went to get their drinks, Miguel took a look around the apartment. It was nice, well furnished, very cozy looking. Miguel could get used to being around here. He sat on the couch, waiting for Ryan. "Here you go. Make yourself at home." Ryan plopped down next to the Latino, pulling his body close to his. He couldn't seem to stop touching Miguel; the contact between the two was intoxicating. "I'm glad I came out tonight. And I'm really looking forward to getting to know you more."

Miguel smiled, leaning over to kiss him lightly. "Me too. I have a feeling this could be the start of something great."

In between kisses Miguel asked, "What kind of work do you do?"

"I co-own the bar Chris works at."

"Who's the other owner?"

"Sean Murphy and Tim McManus."

Miguel pulled away for a moment and said, "The way Chris talks it sounded like he owned the bar outright."

"He likes to talk but he makes really good money. You'll have to come see it some time. You'd like it." Ryan leaned back in and kissed Miguel cutting off any further conversation.

Miguel braced himself above Ryan and thrust his hips against Ryan moaning loudly. Ryan arched into Miguel's body and gripped his hips not wanting to be separated. "Fuck." 

Ryan kissed Miguel again and said, "Let's go back to my room. We'll be much more comfortable." The two got off the couch and Ryan pulled Miguel along beside himself to his room. He turned the light switch on and said, "Nothing fancy but I like it."

"It looks great Ryan. Now weren't we preoccupied with something?" Miguel chuckled. 

The next morning Miguel started to wake up and found he was tangled with another body. He started to remember the double date and going home with Ryan and the great sex they had. He yawned and laid his head back on Ryan's chest while he waited for Ryan to wake up.

Miguel lay there for a while watching Ryan sleep. He knew he'd have to head out soon to get to work on time but he wanted to revel in the feeling of waking up next to someone again. He hadn't planned on sleeping with Ryan, but there was something about the other man he couldn't seem to resist. Ryan was awesome in bed, a very considerate lover. It far exceeded Miguel's expectations, leaving him craving more. He was so caught up in his thoughts he didn't even notice Ryan had woken up. 

"Good morning, sleepy head. Been awake long?"

Miguel smiled at the sound of his voice first thing in the morning. It was a sound he could get used to hearing. "Just a few minutes. Long enough to see how cute you are while you sleep."

Ryan chuckled and Miguel shivered at the goose bumps he got feeling the vibration of it against his head. "What time do you need to be at work? I'll make you some breakfast."

Miguel groaned, wishing he could call in and take him up on his offer. "As amazing as that sounds, I should probably get going. You wanna meet for lunch though? My treat." Ryan smiled, leaning down to press a long drawn out kiss to Miguel's lips. "I'll take that as a yes."

Once Miguel walked onto the firm floor Toby found him immediately. "You guys hit it off or did this one sour too?"

Miguel bit his lip and grinned. "I asked him out to lunch for today."

Toby looked at Miguel's content expression and asked, "And?"

"And he's a good guy."

"You two sleep together?"

"Not that it's any of your business but yes and we clicked a lot."

"I'm glad this is working out for you."

"It's still early in the game. Now I need to get to work." Miguel went to his office after that.

Miguel could barely focus on his work, glancing at the clock every couple minutes, wishing time would go by faster. He and Ryan were meeting at 12:30 at this little Cuban place near his work. He was nervous, a little anxious about how Ryan would see him now that they'd had sex. He hoped the other man would see him as more than a willing body, maybe be interested in him enough to pursue something more serious. 

Twelve thirty finally rolled around and Miguel headed to the restaurant, getting a small booth for two near the back. He was starting to doubt himself when Ryan showed up five minutes late. "Hey, sorry I'm late. I couldn't find my keys," he leaned over and pressed a kiss to his forehead. "Hope you weren't waiting too long."

Miguel smiled a little at that, his nerves calming down immediately. The lunch continued without issue, the both of them getting to know each other more, finding they had a lot in common and a lot of the same goals. Miguel checked his watch and saw he needed to head out soon, really not wanting to. "I gotta get back to work..." 

"Lemme walk you back at least."

Miguel agreed and the two headed out. On the way back, they continued their conversation, their arms constantly bumping into each other. Miguel let his hand clasp with Ryan's, their fingers tangling together loosely. They stopped in front of Miguel's firm, both a little disappointed their date had come to an end. "I had a good time today...really hoping we can do this again soon."

Ryan smiled, pulling Miguel close. "How's tonight sound?"

Miguel closed the distance between them, kissing him deeply. “Sounds perfect."

Ryan smiled before stealing a few more kisses. "Great. Have a good rest of the day at work, babe."

A week later Miguel was sitting in his office going through some files and making notes in a legal pad when Ryan came into his office and sat a bag in front of his lover. "Whoa. Shit." Miguel said. He looked at Ryan and said, "You scared me man."

"Didn't mean to freak you out babe."

Miguel put his pen down and opened the bag. He saw a couple of plastic containers and a fork. "Is this lunch?"

"Yeah. I was bored so I decided to make you lunch today."

Miguel pulled Ryan into a kiss and said, "It smells really good. You want to go to our break room and eat?"

"Yeah sure, if they're okay with me being here."

Miguel looked at Ryan and said, "You made it to my office. I think you're good."

Ryan grinned and took the bag from Miguel's desk and helped him out of his chair. "Lead the way."

Miguel moved in front of Ryan and Ryan took Miguel's hand in his as they left the office. Miguel showed him down the hall and he pushed open a door on the left. "Here's our break room. Where do you want to eat?"

Ryan looked around the room and saw some couches and then a table and padded chairs were in one corner. "How about the couch?"

"Good choice." They went over and when Ryan sat down he pulled Miguel into his lap before he leaned back against the couch. "Going to be a little hard to eat like this."

"Not if I feed you." Ryan grinned.

"Oh pampering already."

"Only because I like you." Miguel pouted and Ryan pulled him into a kiss. "I wish we were home already."

"Me too." Miguel got comfortable on Ryan's lap and Ryan fed him the stir fry he cooked and Miguel fed Ryan in turn.

Ryan left shortly after that and Miguel was heading back to his office when he ran into Toby. "I just saw Ryan leaving," he said with a grin on his face. "How are things going with you guys?"

Miguel rolled his eyes but couldn't stop the smirk that came up whenever Ryan was mentioned. "Things are good, Tobe. Great, actually. I really like him. And I think he really likes me. We've spent almost every day together since you introduced us."

"See? And you didn't want to meet him. You can thank me later, Alvarez."

Miguel chuckled knowing he and Chris weren't going to let it go anytime soon. 

Ryan headed to work after leaving Miguel's office. He couldn't get enough of the other man, wanting to spend as much time as possible with him. He knew the bar would be dead at this time, but it gave him some time to slack off and hang out with Chris. That was an upside to owning the bar; he was able to set his own hours. 

"Long time, no see, O' Reily. Seems as though little Miguel is taking up all your free time."

Ryan just laughed, knowing Chris had said it in fun. "Whatever, K-Boy. Like you'd have time to see me between how much time you spend with Toby. You're whipped man."

Chris scoffed at that, giving Ryan a look. "You're well on your way man," he said, laughing. "So when did you guys become exclusive, a real item?"

Ryan shrugged. They hadn't really ever officially put a title to anything it just sort of came naturally. "I dunno. We just kinda fell into it."

Chris stared at him. "You should ask him, make things official. You never know, he could be dating other people."

Ryan brushed it off, knowing Miguel wouldn't do something like that. Still, it left him wondering, gave him an awkward sense of jealousy at the thought of Miguel seeing someone else. "Maybe you're right, K-Boy. If anything, it could give me a little peace of mind."

A couple of nights later Ryan decided to surprise Miguel at his place and take him out. He knocked on Miguel's door and held a rose behind his back while he waited for Miguel to answer. When the door opened it was someone else. Ryan's face fell and he asked, "Is Miguel here?"

The guy looked at Ryan and noticed he had deflated and said, "Yeah. Let me get him for you." The guy walked over to Miguel's office and he said, "Miguel someone's here to see you."

"Okay. Do you know who it is?" Miguel asked as he looked up from the project they were working on.

"I don't know but he looked really down when I answered the door."

"I'll be right back." Miguel went to the door and saw Ryan turning around to leave. "Hey honey." Ryan paused and turned towards Miguel with his rose in hand. "You bring that for me baby?"

"Yeah. Who's that other guy?"

"He's someone I work with. Why? You jealous baby?"

Ryan swallowed and said, "Nah. Not jealous at all. Here you go." Ryan handed Miguel the rose and Miguel pulled him close.

Miguel smelled the rose and ran his free hand over Ryan's arm. "He's a co-worker here working on a project. I'll send him home for the night and we can spend some time together."

"If you're working I can go." Ryan offered.

"Ryan you're staying. We're just getting ahead on a project. I can take it to work on Monday and we can finish it then."

"You sure?"

"When my boyfriend brings me a flower for no apparent reason other than seeing me I can rearrange some things and spend time with you."

"I'm the only one baby?" Ryan asked quietly.

"From day one. Now come on." Miguel tugged Ryan back into his apartment and said, "Make yourself at home in the living room. I'm going to go put this in some water and tell my co-worker it's time to go."

Ryan pulled Miguel into a gentle kiss and Miguel deepened it. Ryan pulled away and sucked in some air and said, "I'll be waiting baby."

Miguel grinned and pushed him gently towards the living space. He went to the kitchen and pulled out a small vase for the rose. He sat it on his counter and went to the office where his co-worker was still working. "Hey Ben. I'm calling it quits for the night. I'll bring this in on Monday and we can finish it then."

"Okay. Who was at the door?"

"My boyfriend. It's Friday so I'm going to spend some time with him."

"All right. Have fun."

Miguel grinned and said, "I plan on it. Have a good weekend."

Miguel headed into the living room after locking the door behind Ben, seeing Ryan lounging back on the couch waiting for him. He walked over to the other man and sat in his lap, leaning his hands on the couch on either side of Ryan's head.

"Did you really think I was dating other people?"

Ryan blushed a bit. "Not exactly. Chris kinda put this idea in my head though since we've never officially put a title to us. I guess when I saw that guy, I thought you weren't as serious about this as I am."

Miguel rolled his eyes, mentally reminding him to scold Chris next time he saw him. "I'm on the same page as you, baby," he leaned forward, pressing a soft kiss to Ryan's lips. "I'm all yours, Ryan. No one else's, do you understand?"

Ryan nodded his head slightly, feeling embarrassed that he'd even doubt Miguel in the first place. He ran his hands up Miguel's thighs to rest on his hips. He leaned forward, kissing the Latino deeply, wanting to show just how he really felt about him. As the kisses intensified, Ryan shifted them, pushing Miguel onto the couch, Ryan hovering above him. He ground his hips down against Miguel's, drawing out moans from both of them.

"Fuck, babe...let's go to the bedroom."

The two were a tangle of hands and mouths as they undressed on the way to the bedroom. Ryan pulled the blanket and sheet back and Miguel pulled him down onto top of him on the bed. They moaned at the contact and Ryan trailed his kisses down Miguel's throat to his chest enjoying the taste of his lover's skin. Miguel arched into Ryan's body and moaned loudly when Ryan moved to flick and suck on his nipples.

A minute later he flipped them over and worked his mouth down Ryan's body. His hands kept Ryan's hips planted against the bed as he decided to torture Ryan too. His mouth stayed busy pleasuring around Ryan's nipples barely taking notice of how hard Ryan's nipples were until the last moments when he gave them each other gentle tug between his teeth with a quick swipe of tongue.

"Oh fuck baby." Ryan moaned. He rolled them back over and his hands found Miguel's and he tangled their fingers together. He looked down at Miguel, both panting, and he asked, "Where's your stash of condoms and lube?"

Miguel swallowed and said, "Nightstand above our heads."

Ryan looked up from their sideways position on the bed and said, "Be right back." He crawled over Miguel and Miguel ran his hands over Ryan's body admiring it from a different angle. Ryan was getting a few condoms and the lube when he felt Miguel kiss one of his calves and run his tongue to the back of his knee. Ryan shivered enjoying the playfulness he hadn't felt in a long time with one of his partners. He looked over his shoulder and saw Miguel laying on his side running his hand over his leg. "I'm coming amor." Ryan said.

Miguel looked up at Ryan and smirked. "Taking my words now are you?"

"Haha." Ryan said as he came back to Miguel. He leaned down and kissed Miguel deeply and said "Turn over." 

Miguel turned over and got comfortable on the bed as he enjoyed Ryan's ministrations as he prepped him for lovemaking. As his body responded to Ryan's teasing and kisses along his spine he thought about his usual position of being a top with his other lovers most of the time unless he wanted a quick fuck. With Ryan he was happy to let him top because he knew it wasn't about subordination but about feeling the pleasure of someone taking care of you.

Ryan found Miguel was distracted and relaxed enough that he prepped himself and slid inside Miguel's waiting body. Miguel arched into Ryan's body and both moaned and panted loudly. Ryan kissed the back of Miguel's neck and said, "Beautiful baby. So beautiful." He laced his fingers with Miguel's and he made love to Miguel.

When the two were finally worn out, Miguel rested his head on Ryan's chest, tangling their legs together. They settled into a comfortable silence, both just reveling in the feeling of being close to each other. Miguel's mind started to wander, thinking about how fond he was of Ryan, about how quickly things were moving for them. Any other person, Miguel would have kept his guard up and not let anyone in like that. But with the Irishman, things were totally different. Miguel couldn't remember the last time he'd felt this content.

His thoughts were interrupted by Ryan's voice. “You okay? You're awfully quiet right now..." Ryan asked, a bit of worry laced in his voice.

Miguel lifted his head to look up at Ryan, a small smile on his face. “I'm fine, baby. Just thinking about how happy I am that I met you." He pushed himself up on his elbow to lean forward to press some kisses to the other man's lips.

"I'm happy I met you too. It's been so long since I've felt this way about anyone. It's such a great feeling," Ryan said, rubbing a hand across Miguel's back. "We should really take Chris and Toby out to dinner to thank them for this."

Miguel let out a laugh, resting his head back on Ryan's chest.

A few nights later, Miguel and Toby decided to stop in at the bar to go visit Ryan and Chris. They saw Chris cleaning up a spill near the pool tables and walked up to greet him.

"Hey babe, hey Miguel. Wasn't sure if you guys were gonna make it out or not." Chris said, pressing a quick kiss to Toby's lips. Toby wrapped his arms around the other man's waist, scanning the bar for Ryan.

"Yeah, we finished up early so we thought we come visit. Where's Ryan?"

"He's in the office working on inventory. You can go back there if you want."

Miguel nodded a thanks and headed to the back office. The door was wide open, but Ryan had his back to him, hunched over his work in deep concentration. Miguel crept in as quietly as he could, resting his hands on the other man's shoulders. He felt Ryan jump before glancing up to see who the intruder was.

"Oh shit, Miguel. You scared the hell out of me."

"Sorry," he said, continuing to rub Ryan's neck and shoulders. "Why don't you take a break from that? You look tired."

Ryan sighed, spinning his chair so he was facing Miguel now. He pulled the Latino into his lap, resting his head in the crook of his neck. He stayed quiet, making Miguel a little nervous.

"Something wrong?"

Ryan hesitated, before opening up to his lover. "My ex-wife came by early today..."

Miguel gave him a harsh look. "You didn't tell me you were married, Ryan."

Ryan rested his head on Miguel's shoulder and rubbed Miguel's back with one of his hands. He took a deep breath and let it out. "I'm sorry I didn't mention it before. I honestly didn't think I'd ever see her again in our lives."

Miguel kept his anger reeled in for the time being and continued to rub Ryan's neck. He asked, "What'd she want?"

"She wanted us to get back together but I told her I was seeing somebody and that it looked to be turning serious."

"Did she ask about me personally?"

"She wanted to know who I was dating and I told her one of Toby's friends."

"Does she even know that you like men?"

"Not really."

Miguel pulled himself away from Ryan and moved away from him. He raised his voice as he glared at Ryan, "Are you ashamed that you like dick Ryan? Is that why you didn't tell her about me?"

Ryan swallowed and said, "I didn't tell her because it's none of her business. Now can you keep your voice down?"

"When did you start getting together with men? Did you do it out of frustration with your ex or have you always been in the closet about your sex life?"

Ryan was starting to get angry at Miguel with his accusations and he got out of his chair and stalked over to his lover. "Miguel Alvarez don't say one more word." He hissed. Miguel saw the anger in Ryan's eyes and swallowed a lump in his throat. Ryan went around Miguel to shut and lock the door. He walked up behind him and wrapped his arms around Miguel's waist. He breathed against his ear, "Now we're in a closet. Do you want me to take you out to the bar and fuck you there? Is that what you want? People already know I've had male lovers but none of them have come close to what I feel for you."

"Why didn't you tell your ex you were in a serious relationship with a man?"

"Again it's none of her business. I haven't seen her in five years. Why would I tell her something like that?"

Miguel tried to turn around so he could see Ryan's face but Ryan kept him immobile. He said, "Maybe to get her to go away."

"I'm pretty sure I sent her away for good."

"How?"

"I just told her to go away, I was happy and that she needed to move on because I already have."

"What happens if she doesn't?"

"We'll get there when we get there. Now can we please not argue over this? I don't want to argue with you about Shannon being an idiot or whatever."

"We'll drop it for now." 

Ryan turned Miguel around in his arms and leaned in to kiss him. "Thank you baby."

Miguel returned the kiss and said, "Let's go out to the bar and get a drink. You can come back to your inventory later."

"That's the best thing I've heard all day baby."

"Glad I could help." Miguel chuckled.


	2. Chapter 2

It had been six weeks since their fight about Ryan's ex and things were running smoothly. Miguel couldn't put the thoughts of Shannon out of his head though. They hadn't talked about it since the incident happened, but it made Miguel paranoid and a little on the jealous side just thinking of another person trying to take Ryan away from him. 

They were heading back to Ryan's after a night out with Chris and Toby, Ryan's arm wound around the Latino's waist. They were so distracted in their conversation they barely heard the sound of someone clearing their throat near his door. 

"Shannon? What the fuck are you doing here?"

Miguel jerked away at the mention of her name, glancing up to see a thin brunette staring daggers at them. 

"Never mind why I'm here, who the fuck is he?"

Ryan clutched Miguel tighter to his body, afraid he'd get in her face or storm off. "I already told you we ain't getting back together. Now get the fuck away from my door and leave us alone."

Shannon let out a dry laugh. "Us? That spic your little boyfriend? Never mind, I don't want anything to do with a faggot."

She stormed off after that, leaving the two in a tense silence. Miguel was upset, pissed that she ruined their night and mad that Ryan didn't try to defend him. He slipped out of Ryan's grip, running a hand through his hair. "Should I worry about a reaction like that from anyone else? Another ex, family maybe?"

Ryan stayed quiet. Miguel let out a groan of frustration. Finally, Ryan spoke up. "All of my friends know...my family is still in the dark about it," Ryan said, keeping his eyes to the ground. "We're Irish Catholic. I was raised to believe being gay was a sin...you know how it is..."

Miguel glared at him. "I am a Hispanic male, raised Catholic. The last thing my family wants is for me to be gay, but I'm not gonna fucking lie to myself, Ryan," he said raising his voice. "Do you want to be with me?"

"Of course I do, Miguel. That's the only thing I want."

"Then you need to be real with yourself and come out. 100%"

Ryan glared at Miguel and asked, "Does your entire family know about you?"

"All of my immediate relatives know. Actually my grandmother caught me kissing a guy and told my parents."

"And they didn't disown you?"

"It took them a while to get used to but they eventually accepted me for who I am."

"So you've always been with men? No women in the picture?"

"There was one woman but I couldn't continue along a lie so I let her go so she could be happy."

"Are you trying to sound like a knight in shining armor because that's what you sound like right now?"

"No but I want you to know that you have my support when you tell your parents and siblings."

"My brother already knows."

"What did he do?" Miguel asked looking over Ryan's face and body.

"Told me good luck."

"How long has he known?"

"A long time."

"What happened?" 

Ryan sighed and asked, "Can we go inside please?"

"Yeah." The two walked in and Miguel pulled Ryan into an embrace.

Ryan held Miguel loosely and ran his mouth over Miguel's neck and shoulder before he continued, "I was still married to Shannon and for some reason I was stupid and decided I wanted to fuck one of my old high school friends. He worshipped the ground I walked on so I thought 'what the hell' and went about getting him smashed to hell and back before I took him home and fucked him. Cyril came into my room and saw me fucking Liam. I liked what I felt but didn't like Liam." Ryan sighed and said, "After that I didn't see Liam for a while and my brother kept asking me what was wrong with me. I told him nothing."

"So you felt nothing for this guy but wanted to see what this side of the fence felt like?"

"Yeah. I know I'm a bastard but I felt I needed to try it without too many feelings first."

"How many guys have you been with?"

"Not many."

Miguel looked at Ryan sternly and said, "Tell me the truth Ryan."

"It's not been many I'm tellin' ya. Some casual sex here and there." Ryan pleaded.

"How many relationships have you had since you divorced your wife?"

"Only a few and they only lasted about six months or so. Never going for any major length of time."

"And how do you see us?"

Ryan couldn't stop his grin and said, "I see us as old men with our children and their children and maybe even their children's children sitting around us."

Miguel smiled and kissed Ryan gently. "That's a good picture."

"I know. I could picture that since we first met."

Miguel went to work that Monday, wanting to get Toby's opinion on the whole Ryan situation. He couldn't deny that he was a little off put by things. He knew he had to give Ryan the benefit of the doubt, knowing it was probably a little hard coming out to his family. It still made Miguel feel bad though, as though Ryan was ashamed of him. He sought out Toby during his lunch break, finding the other man finishing up some documents. 

"Hey, Tobe. Got a minute?"

Toby looked up and nodded, motioning Miguel to take a seat. 

"Its about Ryan. We got into a little disagreement this weekend over him not coming out to his family."

"So? That's a pretty personal thing to deal with, Miguel."

Miguel let out a sigh; a little aggravated that Toby wasn't seeing where he was coming from with everything. "I understand that, but he already lied to me about Shannon, hasn't told his family about me. I mean, if this is gonna be a real and serious thing, he shouldn't be ashamed of me."

"That's not shame. You can't force him to do something he's not ready for. I'm sure if he's really serious about you, he'll do it. You don't need to worry about it."

Miguel decided to drop the subject realizing he wasn't going to get anywhere with Tobias on this issue. He returned to his office, checking his phone and seeing a new text from Ryan. 

'Are you busy this Thursday night? If not, I want you to come for dinner with me at my parents.'

Back at the bar Ryan was busy sitting at his desk letting his head fall against the surface in a nicely timed fashion when his office door opened. One of his business partners Sean Murphy asked, "Are you okay bro?"

Ryan paused in his head banging and said, "I just asked my boyfriend to dinner at my parents house." Then he continued with the rhythmic thuds against his desk.

"And?"

"My parents don't know I'm gay. Miguel wants me to come out to them but I don't think I can. You know them so you also know that this will end in disaster and I'll probably never see them again and then I'll lose Miguel too."

"Calm down and stop banging your head on your desk. That won't solve anything. Why does he want you to come out to your parents when it's obviously a bad idea right now?"

Ryan stood up and ran his fingers through his hair. "He thinks because my parents don't know that I'm gay that I'm ashamed of him and that's not it at all. He's the only man I want to be with for the rest of my life. He doesn't understand that while his family took some time to process his coming out, my dad would and probably will try to beat the shit out of me even though I'm an adult who can make my own decisions. And my mom, she'd let him beat the shit out of me but she'd at least give a washcloth to clean up with afterward. He doesn't get that I don't really like to visit my parents and hopefully everything will go smoothly on Thursday."

"Why don't you cook dinner tonight and have this talk with him? It sounds like you haven't really told him a whole hell of a lot about yourself."

"I've told him a lot about myself but the past is hard and I'd really like to forget about it..."

"You 'forgetting' has led to a lot of undue stress, the way it looks to me. Tonight explain to him about how your parents will react and tell him you two will still go to dinner at their house but the first sign of trouble you guys are out of there. He might be willing to compromise."

"I'm not trying to pull that 'woe is me' bullshit."

"And you aren't Ryan. He'll see it for what it is, a man who's trying to protect himself and his lover."

"I hope so." Ryan scrubbed his hands over his face and said, "I need a drink."

"Don't forget your phone. Did this help at all?"

"Yeah. Thanks Sean."

That night Miguel went to Ryan's house and knocked while wandering why Ryan was so nervous about dinner tonight. Ryan answered the door and leaned in to kiss Miguel before he pulled him inside the house. After he shut the door he pulled Miguel against him and buried his face in the crook of his neck. Miguel wrapped his arms around Ryan and asked, "What's the matter baby?"

"Can you hold me for a minute please?"

"You know I'd hold you all night. What's wrong?"

"We're going to talk about some things. I need you to understand why I haven't done things like you have."

Miguel ran his thumb over Ryan's jaw and said, "Okay we'll talk. Do you want me to pour some wine while you finish dinner?"

"Yeah. That sounds good."

A few minutes later they were sitting at the table with their food and Miguel started to eat while he let Ryan gather his thoughts. That's one thing he learned; Ryan needed to gather his thoughts together before he shared things from his life. He knew Ryan didn't have the best of childhoods, neither did he but he also knew that Ryan still faced some of those issues even today as a grown man of thirty-five. 

Ryan took a few bites of his dinner and then sipped his wine. He looked over at Miguel and saw Miguel was giving him time. He wanted to stand on the roof of his building and yell to the world the love he felt for this man yet he hadn't told him he loved him yet. Miguel hadn't told him yet either with those three little words but Ryan knew they showed each other every day the love they felt without saying those words. 

He put his wine glass down and took Miguel's hands in his and ran his thumbs over the tops of them. "Baby what is it?" Miguel asked.

Ryan cleared his throat and said, "I love you very much and have since we first met."

Miguel nodded not quite sure where the conversation was going and listened to Ryan.

"All of our fights..."

"We haven't fought only had disagreements."

"They've felt like fights but anyway let me keep going. All of those things were brought about because I wanted and still do want to protect you. My life hasn't been pretty and most of the people from my past are not good people, my parents included."

"Is all of this because I asked you about your family not knowing?" 

"I'm trying to prepare you for Thursday. I don't like to visit much with my parents but I'm willing to risk a visit to keep you. I'm going to tell them we're together and then pray to a god that hasn't heard me since I was toddler that my dad doesn't pull a cord off something or anything really and beat the shit out of me."

"You're a grown man. Does he not see that?"

"In my family that doesn't matter. My dad beat the shit out of me five years ago when I divorced Shannon even though they don't know why I did it in the first place. Didn't any of your relatives do anything like this?"

"No for a long time no one but my mother spoke to me but she put her foot down and the rest of the family followed. They let me back into the family fold after a couple of years of none of them speaking or seeing me."

"That would be what I'd hope for with mine. Just leaving me alone but we'll see how Thursday night goes. My brother Cyril will be there so maybe that'll help the evening."

"What do you think your mom's reaction would be?"

"She'd let my dad beat the shit out of me and then give me a washcloth and gauze afterward."

"I'm sorry I pushed you into this. You don't have to."

"No I'm going to do it. I'd been thinking about doing that for a while now anyways and I don't want to lose you over this. I'm not ashamed of you and if the entire world could hear me I'd shout my love for you from the roof of the building."

Miguel pulled Ryan into an embrace and kissed him deeply. He moved his kisses along Ryan's jaw and earlobe and whispered, "I love you too baby."

Thursday came faster than Ryan would've liked, but he wasn't backing out of this one. He had taken the day off in preparation of the night, his nerves way too shot to be useful at work. Miguel had told him he didn't have to go through with it, but he knew it was time he faced this challenge head on. He'd already spoken to Cyril about it and his brother seemed supportive enough, not really caring who Ryan dated as long as he was happy.   
Ryan was on his way over to Miguel's to pick him up for the evening, wanting to get a little alone time in since he knew they wouldn't be able to act the way they wanted to with each other at his parents. He knocked on the door, waiting for Miguel to open it. 

"Hey baby," Miguel greeted, pressing a kiss to Ryan's lips. "I was just changing out of my work clothes, come in."

Ryan followed closely, resting his hand on the large tattoo on the side of the Latino's lower back. It always turned him on to see the contrast between Miguel in his corporate clothes and when he was taking them off, reveling in the spattering of tattoos across his toned arms and back. They headed back into his room, Ryan now wrapping both arms around his waist, pulling him back against him. He kissed the back of Miguel's neck a few times, resting his head in the crook of his neck, letting out a deep sigh. 

"I'm so nervous, Miguel," he murmured into the Latino's skin. "But I can't wait to get it out."

Miguel turned in his arms so he was facing the taller man, pulling him into a long, gentle kiss. 

"I promise everything will be okay. Even if they flip out, I'm not leaving you. I'll be there to help you deal, alright?" 

Ryan nodded. 

"Alright. Let's hurry up and get out of here."

Ryan and Miguel made it to Ryan's parents house, the environment feeling a little tense even before any confessions were made. His mother was nice enough, asking Miguel about his job and how he and Ryan became friends. His father on the other hand, stayed quiet, only giving short answers when necessary. The group finished dinner without incident when Seamus spoke up. 

"Alright Ryan, what's going on? You never come by here unless you've got some shit to say."

Ryan cleared his throat, not quite ready to talk, but knowing he didn't have a choice now. He felt Miguel's hand on his knee under the table giving it a light squeeze and he gathered his strength to tell his family what was going on. 

"You're right, dad. The reason I came tonight and the reason I brought Miguel with me is...I'm gay. And I love this man so much. I couldn't keep pretending to be something I'm not, it’s not fair to me or to him. I'd hope you'll accept me and him since he's going to be around for a long time, but I don't expect a change over time. I love you guys and I hope we can move past this."

The room stayed silent, Seamus having a stare down with Ryan. Miguel glanced around to see everyone else's reactions and Cyril and Suzanne just kept their heads down, not daring to get between the war that was no doubt coming. 

Finally, the silence was broken. "You and that goddamn Spic...get the fuck out."

Ryan looked over at his mother and said, "You know where I'm at if you want to still talk to me. Come on Miguel baby." He took Miguel's hand in his and went to pull Miguel out of the house but Miguel stopped him for a moment.

"Hang on." Miguel didn't let go of Ryan's hand and he looked at Ryan's parents and said, "It was nice meeting you both and I'm sorry you're about to actually miss seeing your son happy. It doesn't seem like he's seen much of it in his lifetime so I'll make sure I can show him what I can." Then he wrapped his arm around Ryan's waist and said, "Let's go home amante."

"Okay."

The next morning Miguel called in for both of them and Ryan said, "Thanks." 

"You're welcome baby. We got all weekend to lay around and just be."

"I didn't thank you for what you told my parents last night."

"You did and you're welcome." Miguel said as he leaned over and wiped the last few tears from Ryan's eyes.

Around lunchtime someone banged on Ryan's apartment door and Miguel answered the door. "What's going on with Ryan?"

"Chris he wants to be left alone for a while."

"Last night not go well?"

"None of your business."

Ryan came into the living room in a pair of shorts and no shirt on. "Hey Miguel..." He noticed Chris and said, "Hey Chris. What do you want?"

"Checking on you because you never miss work."

"Well I'm not feeling well so go home."

"Miguel not feeling well either?"

Ryan noticed the shark grin and moved into Chris' personal space before either knew what was going on. "Get the fuck out of my house."

Miguel rested a hand on Ryan's lower back and said, "Come on baby."

"Not until he's gone." Ryan said.

"I just came by to check on you."

"Go before I do something I might regret." Ryan said.

Chris raised his hands in surrender and said, "I'm going. I'll tell Toby you're starting to piss on all your property..."

Ryan planted his fist in Chris' jaw before anyone could stop him and Chris pushed Ryan and Miguel back into the house. He went to punch Ryan but Miguel blocked his fist and showed some of his Latin fury and growled in the back of his throat. Ryan and Chris paused to look at Miguel because they didn't know he was capable of throwing a punch like that. "While you are on his property you will respect it and when he tells you to get the fuck out you will listen. Now go." Miguel said as he crowded Chris out of Ryan's apartment and slammed the door.

He turned back to Ryan and Ryan asked, "Why'd you do that?"

"He gets his kicks from bullying, even his friends. He's gonna learn he can't fuck with us. How's your hand?"

"A frozen pack should be all right."

"Here let me help you get that wrapped up."

Work Monday was awkward for both Miguel and Ryan. Toby wasn't speaking to Miguel, upset that he struck Chris. Miguel just rolled his eyes at the other man, finding it funny that his best friend of over a decade was picking his boyfriend's side without even knowing his side of the story. 

Ryan went into work and clocked in, noting how everyone stopped talking when he passed by Chris. He wasn't looking to start another fight, but he wasn't going to let Chris play intimidator either. Tim approached Ryan on his break, curious to know the cause for all the tension. 

"What's up with you and Chris? Normally we can't get you guys to shut up."

Ryan grunted at the mention of the other man's name, still not quite ready to let it go. 

"He overstepped his boundaries the other day and disrespected me in my home. So I hit him. And so did Miguel."

Tim just stared at him as though he were crazy. 

"Are you out of your mind? You know how crazy he gets to enemies..."

Ryan snorted. "Fuck him. This is my bar, if he tries to pull anything, I'll have his ass outta here faster than you can blink."

"What about Toby? And Miguel? Don't you think this whole thing is probably causing a rift between them?"

Ryan had thought about that briefly but his anger toward Chris trumped his concern for Toby and Miguel's friendship. He felt a little guilty, but he wasn't gonna let on to Tim that that's how he felt. 

"They've been friends for years. I'm sure they'll work it out."

Tim rubbed the back of his neck, looking pretty apprehensive. "I dunno, Ryan. If someone pulled something like that with Sean, I don't think I'd be so quick to forgive."

The Irishman had had enough of the conversation by that point and walked away, heading to pick Miguel up for lunch. 

When he reached the firm, he ran into Toby on his way to Miguel's office, the other man shooting him looks that could kill. Ryan ignored it, not having the energy to waste on a fight with the lawyer. He pushed open Miguel's door, seeing the Latino leaning back in his chair, his hand covering his face. 

"You ready for lunch, babe?" 

Miguel peeked out from under his hand at the sound of Ryan's voice. 

"I have the worse headache. Toby's been a dick to me all day over what happened on Friday."

Ryan went over to his lover and moved his hands away from his face. He leaned in and gave him a gentle kiss before he moved to stand behind Miguel and started to work the tension out of his shoulders. His hands worked up Miguel's neck to the back of his head and Miguel let his head drop to his chest. Ryan started to hum and Miguel groaned at the feeling. He rolled his shoulders and Ryan asked, "Do you feel a little better?"

"Your hands are magic and you know it." He grinned. "I feel better just seeing you babe."

"You want to go out to lunch?"

Miguel looked around his office and said, "Yeah maybe getting out of here will help my head."

The two left for a diner down the street and got their food. Miguel looked at Ryan and said, "I feel bad amante. I haven't asked you how your day is going?"

Ryan said, "Chris hasn't spoken to me and it seems between all of our friends that they're taking Chris and Toby's sides in this and not letting us explain."

"Do you think it would be a good idea to sit everyone down at the bar and try to explain our actions or what do you think?"

"No those two can stop PMS-ing first and maybe they'll see we were in the right about what happened. We don't have to explain nothing. He fucked with both of us in my house and he deserves everything he got." Ryan spat while he played with his food.

Miguel reached over and took Ryan's free hand in his and rubbed his thumb over the back of his hand. "We'll wait and see what they do. Now let's enjoy our lunch."

A couple days passed with no change. Miguel was tired of the tension and bullshit so he made plans to meet up and figure it all out. He invited Tim and Sean as well, knowing the two would be the mediators in case things got bad. 

Ryan was opposed to the whole thing, but went anyway, deciding possible conflict the Toby and Chris was better than conflict with Miguel. The two pulled up in front of the diner, already knowing Chris and Toby as well as Sean and Tim were there. They walked in hand in hand, Ryan feeling dread coming over him. 

They took a seat across from Toby and Chris and ordered their drinks, no one saying a word after that. Miguel cleared his throat and spoke up. "Chris, I want to apologize for hitting you. It was just a reaction after you tried to come for Ryan. I shouldn't have done that and I think all of us fighting over something like this is extremely childish."

Ryan kept his eyes to the table and Toby let out an annoyed sigh. Miguel glanced over at his friend. "Toby, get over it. I get it: you're mad at me because I hit him. But you weren't there you didn't see how he was acting. You just automatically take his side without giving your BEST FRIEND a chance to even explain."

Toby went to speak, but Chris cut him off. "You're right. I got a little carried away with things and I shoulda just backed off when you two said so," he turned to address Ryan. "Sorry man. You know how I am, I figured you'd just laugh it off. Forgot that you'd just dealt with heavy shit from your family."

Everyone sat and waited to see what Ryan would say. After staring at his drink for a while he looked up, a small grin forming on his face. "We're cool man. Just let that be a lesson next time."

Chris let out a laugh, the tension around the table melting away. Toby still hadn't said anything and everyone could tell he was still a little pissed. Chris leaned over and whispered something in his ear, some of the negative vibes leaving him. Miguel watched the two closely and just rolled his eyes. He saw where he stood in his best friends eyes now and he wasn't too pleased.

Later that night at Miguel's apartment Ryan looked around and said, "Why don't we get a house together?"

Miguel had taken a drink from his beer bottle and when he heard Ryan's question he choked on his drink. Ryan went over and soothed him gently until Miguel got his breath back. Miguel swallowed and took a deep breath. He looked at Ryan and asked, "What brought that on?"

"The question?"

"Yeah. I mean we've only been together a few months."

"I'm just bringing it up because we practically already live together at our places, both of us have each others' keys, and we know each others' security codes."

"While that's true did anything else bring about that question? We've been having a hell of week."

"Seriously that's why I brought it up. I know that I personally see you as my life partner. I can't do casual with you and wouldn't even think about it. I'd like you to move in with me while we house hunt."

Miguel wrapped his free arm around Ryan and kissed his lips. He pulled back and asked, "Where would I put all of my stuff?"

"I've got plenty of storage space for your stuff so don't worry about it. So is that a yes?"

"Si amante. We can start packing my stuff on Saturday."

"Do you want to tell everyone we're moving in together?"

"Not right now. They know we practically live with each other now but they don't need to know yet." Miguel set his bottle on the counter next to him and said, "Now no more talking about bad friends okay. Let's enjoy each other."

"I think I can do that baby." Miguel walked Ryan back to his room and pushed Ryan back on his bed. Ryan went to sit up and Miguel shook his head 'no'. Miguel pulled his t-shirt off and took his pants off. 

"I'm liking where this is going." Ryan said as he licked his lips. 

"You'll like it better in about five minutes." Miguel said. He straddled Ryan's hips and Ryan pulled off his own shirt. He tried to grind himself against Miguel's ass but Miguel held his hips. "Not yet baby." Miguel moved off of Ryan and leaned down to take Ryan's pants off. 

Ryan kicked his pants off when Miguel unbuttoned them and tackled Miguel on the bed. "You're such a tease my Latin lover." Ryan breathed as he kissed Miguel. 

Miguel wrapped his arms around Ryan's neck and returned the hungry kisses. "You love when I tease you though." 

Ryan nipped at Miguel's lips and said, "I love you baby." All while his hands caressed Miguel's warm skin and did their own teasing.

That Saturday, Miguel and Ryan got an early start at moving Miguel out. He'd had a few days to pack away most of his things, but there was still a lot of work to be done. The couple sat in the middle of the living room, putting DVDs and other assorted items in boxes. 

"You know, this is the first time I've ever lived with a significant other."

"Really? Am I the longest relationship you've had or something?"

Miguel shook his head no, taping up a box. "I've been in a couple relationships longer than this. I've just never been this in love before, I guess."

Ryan smiled, leaning over to kiss the Latino deeply. He wouldn't openly admit it, but he loved hearing Miguel talk about their relationship, about how much he loved him. Ryan was a lot more open with his feelings, Miguel was a little on the reserved side, so when it came out, it made his whole day. 

"Well I'm glad you chose to take such a big step with me, babe."

"Me too. You coming into my life was exactly what I needed."

The rest of the day dragged on, the pair finishing the entire moving process by eight. They decided to leave the things Miguel didn't need immediately at his place since he still had a month left on his lease. Ryan was in the kitchen making them dinner and Miguel finished putting his clothes away. It was such a surreal thing as he put his clothes in one side of the closet or drawers along side Ryan's. He felt a little sad knowing he and Toby were still on the rocks, wanting to tell his best friend all about this major step in his life.

Two weeks later, while Miguel was in his office working, Toby decided to stop by and check on him. Toby knocked on the doorframe and Miguel looked up from his papers. "Hey Miguel." Toby started slowly.

"Talking to me again?" Miguel spat.

"I've been by your place every night for the last week and a half. Where'd you go?"

"So we're talking again?" Miguel asked quieter this time.

Toby could see Miguel turning things over in his head and said, "Yeah. I'm sorry I've been such a dick to you. That's why I've been going to your place but you haven't been there."

"Ryan asked me to move in with him while we house hunt."

Toby grinned and said, "That's great Miguel."

"I wanted to call you when he asked me but I didn't know how you'd take it so we kept it to ourselves."

"Chris doesn't even know yet?"

"No I told Ryan not to tell Chris or anyone."

"I'm sorry I stayed pissed at you for so long. Chris told me what he did and I should've called you to ask what happened but I didn't."

"Next time something happens ask me before you start thinking the worst of me. I know Chris' type. When he disrespected Ryan in his house, no that would've been mainly me Ryan tried to defend me and it ended up Chris pushed Ryan over the edge and Ryan punched him. Not very good mind you but when Chris went to punch Ryan back I wasn't about to let Chris do something like that so I protected Ryan too."

"And your shot caused the most damage..."

"I didn't mean for it to; I blocked his punch towards Ryan and he got to be bullying so I had to show him we wouldn't take his shit especially in our own house."

Toby walked over to Miguel's desk and held his hand out. "We good?"

"Yeah." Miguel shook his hand and they grinned at each other. For the rest of the day Toby hung out in Miguel's office helping Miguel with his work and catching up on all the stuff that was going on. 

By the end of the day Ryan had come by to pick Miguel up for dinner at Miguel's parents' house and saw Miguel and Toby in his office laughing. Ryan knocked lightly before coming in. "Hey baby." Miguel said.

"Hey."

Toby looked at Ryan and said, "I'm really sorry about what's been going on the last few weeks. I listened to Miguel and should have since the night it happened."

"It's okay. I'm over it and so is Chris. He knows better."

"Oh and congratulations on moving in together. He says you two are house hunting."

"Yeah. We'll be house hunting in the spring." Then he looked at his lover and asked, "Are you ready to go? We still have to get ready for dinner at your parents' house?"

"I'm ready just let me grab my bag and coat."

Ryan was nervous to meet with Miguel's parents for the first time. Miguel kept reassuring him that it'd be alright since they knew he was gay and had known about Ryan for a while. But Ryan was used to his own upbringing, used to the fact that homosexuality and interracial relationships were taboo. Before he knew it, they were standing in front of Miguel's parents door. 

"Relax, baby," Miguel said, rubbing the Irishman's neck to ease some of the tension. "You'll be fine, I promise."

The door opened then reveling an older Latino man. 

"Miguelito, so glad you could make it." The man pulled Miguel into a hug and kissed him on the cheek. He turned and extended his hand to Ryan. "You must be Ryan. I'm Eduardo, nice to meet you."

Ryan shook Miguel’s father's hand, feeling welcomed by the warm greeting. He followed the two men into the house, noticing the delicious smells coming from the kitchen. 

"Carmen! Miguel and Ryan are here!"

A moment later, Miguel's mother emerged from the kitchen. 

"My son, how are you?" She pulled Miguel into a tight hug, kissing his cheeks as well. She turned and pulled Ryan into a hug, catching the man off guard. 

"Its so nice to finally meet the man that's keeping my son so happy."

Ryan let out a small laugh at that, loving that his parents were approving of him. After the introductions, the four of them sat down for dinner, the conversation never ceasing. It was the polar opposite of the scene at Ryan's family's house. 

"Any luck finding a place?"

Ryan shook his head no, surprised that Miguel’s mother knew about that. "We're not gonna start looking until the spring. Its gonna be interesting living out of the city for once."

"It will be but you'll enjoy the quiet once you get used to it." Carmen replied.

"We're still talking about where we want to move so we're just window shopping right now." Miguel said.

"That's understandable. A house is a big purchase and you want to make sure you're both comfortable in the neighborhood and the house."

"Yeah. That's what we're working on now."

"I don't mean to pry or sound like I'm jumping to conclusions but since you're buying a house together do you two see a family in the future?" Carmen asked looking at the two men who hadn't stopped touching since they sat down at the table.

"We're talking and going day to day on these things." Miguel said.

"Let us house hunt first. If we survive that then we might add children to the future." Ryan said.

Miguel laced their fingers together and grinned at Ryan. "Let us talk about that in private first."

"That's okay." Ryan stroked Miguel's jaw and kissed him gently. 

Miguel pulled away from the gentle kisses before anything major happened in front of his parents and Miguel didn't want to think of that. A big *face palm* would be in store for him if it did. "We will definitely get there baby. One step at a time though." Miguel said.

"You two would make lovely parents." Carmen said.

"Why don't we move to another topic for now and let Ryan and I discuss the pitter patter of baby feet when the time comes."

"Sorry Miguel. I know that's private for you but it'd be nice if we were grandparents."

"Mom you will eventually. Ryan and I want to enjoy some time together." After another hour at Miguel's parents' house Miguel gathered Ryan up and they said bye to his parents.


	3. Chapter 3

That night when the two were laying in bed, Miguel brought up the topic of children with Ryan.

"Do you really want kids?"

Ryan glanced over at him, a little puzzled by the question. "Well, yeah. I mean, it's not something I want for a while, until we're both a little more established and obviously not until we have a bigger place..."

"I don't want to adopt, Ryan."

The Irishman fell quiet. He didn't have a rebuttal for this one. He shifted near Miguel, wondering if the reason Miguel kept trying to keep the topic off children was because he didn't want any. The Latino picked up on the awkward quiet coming from Ryan.

"I want to have kids of our own. With our blood in them."

Ryan looked at Miguel as though he was crazy. "And just how do you propose we do that? Get a surrogate? We can't just get anyone, babe."

"I know," Miguel said letting out a sigh. "I've always thought about how it would be when I wanted to have kids, how I'd do it."

"And?"

Miguel took a breath, glancing up at Ryan. "You could impregnate my sister."

"What?!"

"I'm not talking about sleeping with her, you perv," Miguel said with a chuckle. "We could go to the doctors and have her inseminated. That way, you have a child with your bloodline and it'll look similar to both of us."

Ryan thought the idea over in his head. It wasn't bad in theory, but there was no guarantee his sister would even agree to it.

"What about you? I don't have a sister to give you a biological child."

Miguel stayed quiet, already having thought of that. He couldn't lie and say he wouldn't be disappointed to not have a child of his own, but they could figure that out when they got there.

"We'll work it out, Ryan. Besides, this is all just an idea. We're so far from planning any of this," After Miguel spoke he cut off all other talk of the subject by kissing the other man, silencing him for the night.

That same night at Toby and Chris' house, the two were laying in bed talking. "Did you talk to Alvarez yet?"

"Yeah. I found him at work to ask him why he wasn’t at home and he said that he moved in with Ryan while they look for houses."

Chris, who was propped up on his elbow, asked shocked, "Alvarez is finally taking that leap of faith with somebody and giving up his own personal space? Are we sure about this?"

Toby chuckled and said, "Very sure about this Chris. He's smitten and very much in love with Ryan. I've never seen him spend so much time with any of his lovers."

"The fact they're living together is driving you nuts right?"

"No. Miguel is a grown man and he can do whatever he wants but sometimes I wander if he's done things for his own good or not."

"They're wrapped so tightly together that now if something happened it wouldn't be a pretty aftermath so just leave them to their lives because they've left us with ours."

"Did Ryan talk to you about anything?"

"Only that they were having dinner at Miguel's parents' house tonight and that he was nervous about that after how it went at his own parents' house."

"His parents probably already have Miguel's old room set up as a guest room for them to stay in if they happen to stay overnight. When Miguel first told his parents he was dating Ryan and it looked like it could be a real serious relationship for a change I could hear the squeals in my office. His mother was very happy for him."

"Damn. Did your mother squeal when you told her about us?"

"No. She asked how I felt about you and I told her that I love you and she told me to be careful but that's my mother. You've met her remember?"

"I have. I just like hearing you tell me her reaction to that."

"All right. Enough talk about those two. We have other things we could be doing."

"Yes we do." Chris grinned as he pulled Toby into a kiss.

A few days later Ryan brought Suzanne by Miguel's work and went to his office. He knocked lightly on the door seeing Miguel on the phone and brought his mother around the doorframe and led her to a couch. He walked over to Miguel and leaned down to greet him. Miguel covered the mouthpiece of the phone and said, "Sorry baby."

"You're fine. Mom brought us all lunch. She wanted to make up for dinner a couple of weeks ago." Ryan said and kissed his lover gently before letting him get back to his work.

A few minutes later Miguel finished his phone call and went over to Ryan to greet him properly. He leaned over Ryan and rested his hands on the back of the couch and whispered in his ear, "Looking sexy today baby." Then he kissed his earlobe before pulling Ryan into a deep kiss. Ryan wrapped his arms around Miguel and returned the kiss before he pulled away to catch his breath.

He asked, "Are you hungry baby?"

"Yeah I could eat lunch right about now."

"Come on. Let's go eat in your break room. She brought a small meal literally." Ryan laughed. He glanced at his mother and she had a small smile on her face so he knew he was still all right.

Miguel stood up straight and held his hand out to Suzanne. "This way ma'am."

Suzanne took his hand and he helped her stand and said, "Thanks."

Ryan stood behind Miguel and said, "Lead the way baby." One hand held the heated bag and his other rested against Miguel's lower back as he followed behind them to the break room.

When they went inside Ryan sat the bag at the end of a table and opened it up. "Everything looks good mom. Thanks for this."

After Miguel helped Suzanne into a chair she said, "It's the least I could do to try and make up for the horrible way Seamus treated you both."

"Mom it's okay. We're over it and moving on to other things."

"What all is going on between you two?"

They sat down and Ryan made Miguel's plate and his mother helped herself and then Ryan got to his own plate. "Miguel's moved in with me and we're looking at houses to buy."

"How long have you two been together?"

"Almost six months or so but we're in this for the long haul."

Suzanne looked at the two and said, "I'm glad you found someone that makes you happy Ryan. I'll help where I can."

"You're okay mom. This is a good start."

"I didn't want your father furious at me you know."

"I know and he knows to which is why he was the bigger man than dad. We've pretty much forgotten the incident so why don't we focus on the future. I'm very happy with him and we're going to be together whether anyone likes it or not."

"I know you are Ryan. I'm happy for you." Miguel laced his fingers with Ryan's and his thumb stroked the back of his hand. Ryan squeezed his fingers in silent confirmation.

The holidays came and went, the pair spending Thanksgiving and Christmas with Miguel's family. It was awesome, but Ryan couldn't help the feeling of sadness not being able to spend them with his family as well. He'd sent an invite out to them, but of course they hadn't shown up. Cyril and his mother stopped by the night of Thanksgiving with a couple of plates of food for them, which Ryan was grateful for and they'd had a Christmas at their home to include Cyril and his mother. He wondered if he and his father would be able to salvage a relationship in the future. 

It was February and quickly approaching Valentine's Day. Ryan hadn't celebrated the day for a long time and didn't really know what he would do for Miguel. He wanted it to be special, wanted their first Valentine's Day together to be something he remembered for a long time to come. He sought out the advice of Chris and Sean to see what they thought. 

"I make reservations at Tim's favorite restaurant, usually get him a gift or two, and show him a good time. Pretty basic stuff."

Ryan nodded, keeping those options in mind. Next he went to Chris for advice. 

"I surprise him with his favorite food at work, buy him some chocolates, and then we go home and fuck all night. Why do you think I never come into work the day after?"

Ryan laughed at that, realizing that Chris and Toby did always take that day off. "You're a real romantic, K-Boy."

Chris gave his usual devious grin before turning back to work. Ryan had his work cut out for him, but he was really gonna put the effort in to give Miguel the best Valentine's Day he could.

Miguel noticed the closer it got to February the jumpier and more nervous Ryan got--they made it through the holidays well considering Seamus wasn't talking to anyone. He went to his mother at the beginning of February and asked her about something special he could do for Ryan for Valentine's Day. She gave him a few ideas and he filed those away for some thought later. 

He called Sean next when he got back to his and Ryan's place. "Hey Sean."

"Hey Miguel. Whatcha need?"

"I wanted to ask you about Valentine's suggestions. Nothing fancy but I want to make it special for Ryan."

"What did you have in mind?"

"A quiet dinner maybe and a gift."

"What kind of gift?"

Miguel ran his fingers through his hair and said, "I don't know."

"Come on. You two have been dating for almost ten months." Sean tried to cajole it out of Miguel.

"I've got a few things in mind but I'm not telling."

"Are you going to propose to him?"

"I've thought about it but not yet. We aren't ready for that. I'm going to let you go. I think I know what I want to do for Ryan now. Thanks for the chat."

"You're welcome and you're still not going to tell me what you're doing right?"

"Nope. I've figured it out and if Ryan wants to tell anyone after Valentine's Day he can do that."

"Okay. You win." Sean laughed.

"I always do." Miguel chuckled. "See you later."

"Bye Miguel."

Miguel went over to his desk calendar and found when Valentine's fell on and was glad it was on Saturday. They could have a whole weekend excursion if they wanted to. He did a few internet searches and found a nice packaged trip to Niagara Falls. They hadn't went on an actual vacation yet so he thought it would be a nice thing to do. He booked the short flight and hotel package he found for the entire weekend and then went about figuring out a good way to tell Ryan they were going on a trip that weekend. He saved all the information and printed what he needed to print and hid all the confirmation papers in his briefcase for work.

Ryan came in a little later and saw Miguel laying on the couch watching TV. He leaned over the couch and kissed Miguel's cheek. "Hey baby."

"Hey amante. How was your day?"

"Boring without you. Yours?"

"Boring too baby."

"Have you eaten yet?"

"I was waiting on you."

"Cool. You want to go to that Cuban restaurant we went to?"

"Um...yeah. That's cool. I'll have to change clothes."

Miguel rolled off the couch and onto his feet and went to their room to change for dinner. His mind was going a thousand miles an hour because they hadn't went back to the Cuban restaurant since they had lunch there. When he pulled his t-shirt off he felt hands on his back and he shivered. Ryan wrapped his arms around Miguel's waist and kissed the back of his neck. "Miguel you're shaking. You okay?"

"Yeah...I'm good." Miguel swallowed.

"Is it because I mentioned the restaurant? I didn't mean to make you nervous. We don't have to go there if you don't want to."

Miguel turned around and looked at Ryan's expression and rested his hand on the side of his lover's neck and ran his thumb over it. "The restaurant is fine. It's just getting close to Valentine's Day and my mind is on overdrive with work and everything."

Ryan kissed Miguel and said, "It's just dinner babe. We haven't seen each other except at bed time for a few weeks and..."

"No more explaining Ryan. We're good." He kissed Ryan back and went to go get a shirt out of the closet.

Ryan pulled him back and said, "Let me pick it out."

Miguel nodded and Ryan walked inside the closet. He went through his lover's shirts and pulled out a tan shirt that complimented his skin tone and a pair of nice blue jeans. He came back out and handed them to Miguel. Miguel changed clothes and pulled his boots on as a final touch. 

He stood up and turned himself around, "How do I look?"

"Very handsome." Ryan pulled Miguel back towards him and held him close. Miguel wrapped his arms around Ryan and kissed his jaw. "Let's go eat." 

While they were out to dinner that night, conversation landed on Valentine's Day.

"So did you have anything particular in mind?"

Miguel hesitated, not wanting to give away the surprise but not wanting his love to plan anything either.

"I was thinking maybe a nice dinner at home, watch some movies...spend time together," Miguel said as casually as he could. Ryan's face fell a little, the Irishman clearly having something in mind that he wanted to do. Miguel reached for his hand, giving it a squeeze. "Don't worry baby, we'll have a good time."

Ryan perked up a little, squeezing his hand back before changing the subject and enjoying his meal.

The day before they were to leave for Valentine's Day, Miguel got off work early, wanting to beat Ryan home so he could pack their bags for the weekend. He had them packed and in his car by the time Ryan got home, all the ticket and hotel information hidden in his car. Their flight left pretty early in the morning, so getting Ryan to want to sleep earlier than normal was gonna be a challenge.

"How was work, babe?" Ryan asked from the kitchen. 

Miguel faked a yawn, rubbing the back of his neck for effect. "Pretty stressful, had a lot of cases to deal with. I'm beat. I think I'm gonna call it a night early, baby."

Ryan closed the refrigerator and glanced over at his lover. "You feeling okay?"

Miguel nodded, pulling the other man into his arms. "I'm fine, just sleepy. Come lay with me?"

Ryan wasn't all that tired, but when Miguel looked at him with those eyes, he couldn't say no. He leaned down and planted a kiss to his forehead before leading the way to their bedroom.

Miguel's alarm startled them both awake at 6:30, but only Miguel was expecting it. He knew getting Ryan up and into the shower without giving away his plans was gonna be nearly impossible, so he decided to let him in on a little bit of it.

"I'm gonna get the shower ready for us. We got a big day ahead of us, so we gotta hurry," Miguel kissed the side of Ryan's neck before getting out of bed.

By the time they were in the car, Ryan was thoroughly confused as to what the hell they were doing up and about this early. He turned to look at Miguel, not really paying attention to where he was driving them.

"I thought you wanted to spend the day at home...?"

"Just sit back and enjoy the ride, mi corazon. I promise you won't be disappointed."

When Miguel parked in weekend parking at the airport Ryan asked, "Why are we at the airport?"

"You'll see baby." Miguel grinned as he leaned over and kissed Ryan gently. They got out of the car and Miguel pulled out their two weekend bags and handed Ryan his to carry.

"We're going somewhere? How long have you had this planned?"

"Only a couple of weeks."

"Where are we going?"

"If I told you it wouldn't be a surprise now would it?" Miguel chuckled as he wrapped his arm around Ryan's back and led him to the gate. Ryan glanced at the sleepy travelers and looked at the signs posted in the terminal. "Toronto. Ottawa. Niagara Falls. We're going to Canada?"

"Yeah. I found us a nice little weekend getaway for Niagara Falls."

"I haven't been there yet. I'm sure it'll be wonderful baby. Thanks." Ryan kissed Miguel's cheek.

Miguel turned around in his arms and said, "Happy Valentine's Day."

"It's going to be a nice one."

Fifteen minutes later the announcement was made to get ready for boarding and Ryan and Miguel got in line with their passports and flight information in hand. The flight attendant okay'd their paperwork and stamped their passports so they could board the plane. At their seats Ryan asked, "Which seat do you want?"

"Doesn't really matter?"

"Do you want the window for the view or the aisle seat for the bathroom access?"

Miguel laughed and said, "Put like that I'll take the aisle."

"Take the window this time and then I'll take the window on the way back."

"You've never seen Niagara Falls so you take the window seat first."

"Are you sure?"

"I'm positive amante."

Ryan leaned over and kissed Miguel quickly and said, "I love you babe." He took the window seat and Miguel sat next to him.

Even though they hadn't taken off Ryan was already looking out the window like an excited child and Miguel laced his fingers with Ryan's hand next to him. As the plane started to taxi Ryan tightened his hold on Miguel's hand and pointed out the window with the other. "I gotcha querido." Miguel said.

When the finally arrived to their destination, they quickly checked into their hotel, wanting to catch a quick nap before they went sightseeing. Miguel pulled his shirt off, not wanting to wrinkle it and flopped down on the large bed. He watched as Ryan put their bags in the closet and opened the curtains to check out the view. 

"This is awesome, Miguel," he said, turning to look back at his lover. "Thank you for this."

Miguel motioned the Irishman toward the bed, wanting to just cuddle and be as close to the other man as possible. 

Ryan curled himself around the Latino, pressing a series of kisses the other man's lips. 

"Let's rest. We've got a big day ahead of us."

The rest of the day was spent exploring the town and on the tour of Niagara Falls. They weren't surprised to see quite a few couples there as well, the idea of seeing such a beautiful sight with the one you loved seemingly the most romantic concept. As they came closer to the falls, they leaned against the railing, asking a woman to take a photo of them. When they looked at the photo, they both smiled, seeing the sun peaking out and making a nice glow around them. 

After the tour, they went back to the hotel to change, before heading out for an early dinner. 

The restaurant was a nice Italian place, Ryan's favorite. They sat in an intimate booth near the back, splitting a bottle of wine. 

"How're you enjoying your Valentine's Day, mi corazon?"

Ryan looked over Miguel and let a true smile shine through. "Everything has been beautiful and romantic. Spending this time with you has been the greatest gift baby." He reached over the table and pulled Miguel into a gentle kiss before he sat back down. 

The waiter came over with their orders and handed them an envelope each. Miguel looked at the waiter questioningly and waiter explained, "A gift from us to you. Go on open it up."

The two opened their envelopes and saw a gift card to a high end men's retailer and a Valentine coupon for a couple's massage. "These are wonderful but why us?" Ryan asked.

"We do this every year for a deserving couple and this year you two are it."

"How do you decide who gets these gifts?" Miguel asked wearily.

"It's nothing like you're thinking sir. Sometimes it's a systematic selection, other times someone on our staff points a couple out and we decided that the unsystematic approach was best this year. We hope you enjoy your stay and if you need anything let us know."

Miguel cleared his throat and said, "Umm...thanks for the gifts. We'll enjoy them."

"Thanks sir." Ryan said.

"You're welcome. Again enjoy your stay." The waiter slipped to the kitchen.

Miguel looked at Ryan and said, "This is a nice surprise. This town is something else."

"It really is but I'm looking forward to seeing what this store has to offer." Ryan grinned.

"Well let's finish dinner and we'll check some more of the city out and go do these things tomorrow."

"Sounds good."

An hour later the two left the restaurant with their gifts and Ryan said, "I saw this place I think you'll love if you want to go check it out."

Miguel wrapped his arm around Ryan's waist and said, "Sure baby."

The two enjoyed their weekend away and on Monday Miguel had a hard time leaving Ryan for his job. He was half dressed and couldn't seem to stop kissing or touching Ryan. Ryan was keeping up pretty good but needed to pull away so he could breathe. He stroked Miguel's jaw and said, "You're going to be late baby."

"Toby will be okay. I can have a late day once in a while. Now where was I?" Miguel grinned as he leaned down and kissed Ryan again.

Thirty minutes later a person knocked on their door and Miguel fell on top of Ryan and groaned as he finished. Ryan pulled him into a kiss and came all over his and Miguel's stomachs. "So good baby." Ryan breathed.

The banging the door continued and Miguel pulled away. "I should get that."

"It can wait." Ryan said as his hands trailed over Miguel's back and arms. 

Miguel slipped from between Ryan's legs and said, "I'll be right back. Don't move."

He pulled on his slacks wiped the drying come off his stomach and pulled on tank top that was lying on the floor. He stepped out of the room and closed the door so whoever was at the door couldn't see his lover splayed out on the bed.

He looked out the peephole and saw Toby about to knock again. He pulled open the door and leaned against the frame. Toby looked over Miguel's harried dressing and asked, "Catch you at a wrong time?"

"What do you want?"

"You weren't answering your phone and you're running an hour behind today."

"Give me a bit and I'll be there."

"Why don't you take a sick day? You've got a million of them banked."

"Cool. I'll see you later."

"Have a good time in bed today." Toby said as he turned and walked away from the apartment. Miguel chuckled to himself and locked the apartment back up.

By the end of March, the pair had been seriously looking into buying a house, finding a few that fit their criteria but none that they could agree on. Ryan wanted something a little farther from the city, Miguel didn't. Miguel wanted something small and intimate, Ryan wanted something big where their possible future children could run around in. Finding the right balance was frustrating since both tended to be a tad stubborn at times. 

It was a Saturday and the two were in the car on their way to meet with their real estate agent. Miguel turned and looked at his driving lover. 

"We really need to find this place, Ryan. Our lease is up next month, we need to compromise. 

Ryan let out a frustrated sigh. "I know, baby. I know. I'm willing to live close to the city, but a small house just isn't practical for us."

Miguel rolled his eyes, having heard this argument 100 times before. But Ryan was bending a little, finally opening to the idea of living near the city. Maybe Miguel could compromise too. 

"Fine. We'll see what there is and go from there."

The rest of the car ride was quiet, both just wanting to check out some houses already. They met with their agent, a middle aged woman named Pam. She had been very patient with the two of them since they'd started their hunt. They thought they were going to see a few properties that day, but she insisted the only one she was going to show them was gonna be perfect. 

They were met with a 4 bedroom, 2.5 bath house, and a newer model in a really nice neighborhood. The yard was huge, the price was awesome and neither man could figure out a reason to turn it down. 

"So?" Pam asked at the end of their tour. 

"I love it," Ryan looked over at Miguel. "It's up to him, though."

Miguel nodded his head, smiling over the lady. "You were right, Pam. This is the one."

After the two signed all the paperwork turning the house over to them, Pam gave them the keys, and said, "Welcome home."

"Thanks Pam. It feels like it already." Ryan said as he pulled Miguel against him and they looked over the living space together. When Pam left Ryan whispered, "Where do you want to have sex first?"

Miguel shivered and asked, "Shouldn't we wait until our furniture is moved in?"

"There's gotta be one place you saw?"

"Actually I did." Ryan turned him around in his arms and Miguel pulled him into a deep kiss. "The pantry off of the kitchen."

"Perfect baby." 

They made it to the pantry with shirts half way unbuttoned and zippers pulled down when Ryan pinned Miguel against the wall his mouth connecting with his throat. Miguel wrapped his arms around Ryan and groaned, "Fuck."

Between kisses and his fingers pulling apart buttons Ryan grinned, "Getting there."

The coupling was fast and intense. Ryan pushing Miguel to the brink of coming a few times before he cut it off. Ryan buried himself Miguel's body as his orgasm hit hard. He leaned against his lover as he caught his breath and kissed the back of Miguel's neck.

"When are you going to let me come amante?"

"Not done yet." Ryan said as he lazily licked at a few small sweat drops. A moment later he turned Miguel around and leaned him against the wall. He dropped to his knees and got back to work turning Miguel into a speechless mess. Miguel sank to the floor after Ryan was finished and curled into his lover. Ryan stroked Miguel's back and asked, "Good?"

"It was and you know it." Miguel mumbled into his chest.

"Come on. Let's go so we can start packing."

"Sleep for a few minutes."

"I'll carry you to the car."

"Remember the last time you tried carrying me? It wasn't a pretty sight but it was funny."

Ryan shrugged and said, "Come on baby. We need to tell everyone we found a house too so that they can help us move. It's the least they can do."

Miguel chuckled and said, "They'd hire us movers so they wouldn't have to lift a finger."

"That'd make two more who didn't have to lift fingers." Ryan laughed.

"Okay I'm moving." The two stood and put themselves back together so they could leave. 

On the porch after Ryan locked the door back he pulled Miguel into a gentle kiss and said, "Welcome home."

"Home indeed." Miguel smiled as he returned the kiss.

Packing went smoother than either man was expecting but moving was a pain in the ass, as it usually was. Toby, Chris, Sean and Tim showed up to lend a helping hand, getting them all moved in a little after 6. They got their bedroom and the living room set up, but there was still a lot of work to be done on the kitchen and the other rooms in the house. One room was being set up as an office, another as a guest room. The last spare room was some what of a storage area until they could sort through everything. 

"Thanks again, you guys," Ryan said as they all stood around in the large kitchen, sipping on water. "Once Miguel and I get this place up and running, feel free to come by anytime you like."

"This house is really nice," Tim noted. "Why so big though? I mean...four bedrooms for two people is a lot, don't you think?"

Sean nudged his partner for being nosey, but Miguel just chuckled. 

"Well, at some point, we're hoping to start a family."

"That's great!" Sean exclaimed excitedly. "You know, I've heard pretty good things about this one adoption agency, I could get you some information on it if you need it..."

Ryan cleared his throat, cutting off any further ranting. "We're not gonna adopt," he wrapped his arm around Miguel before continuing. "We want our children to actually be a part of us, so we'll be having Miguel's sister be a surrogate with my sperm."

Everyone slowly nodded, not really expecting something like that. Miguel took notice of the silence and spoke up. 

"Like we said, it's not something we're doing tomorrow. It’s gonna be a few months down the line before we start everything."

"I think it's an awesome idea," Toby said, smiling at his best friend. "If Chris wanted kids, I'd totally do the same thing."

Chris rolled his eyes at the jab, but smiled at Miguel and Ryan anyway. 

A few weeks later Miguel's sister, Bennie, went to their mother's to visit. Her two kids went into the playroom and they sat at the kitchen table with some coffee and Carmen looked her daughter over. She shook her head and asked, "What's the matter Bennie?"

"Miguel talked to me a while ago and I've been thinkin' about what he asked."

"What did he ask?" She looked over her daughter and could see the stress around her eyes and the frown on her face.

Bennie replied, "He asked me to carry his and Ryan's baby."

"He asked you that? No wonder he didn't want to mention anything at dinner. How do you feel about that?"

"I want to help Miguel out but I don't know if I'd be able to let someone else raise a baby I had even though it's my own brother and I'd still see the child."

"Did you explain this to him?"

"Not yet. I wanted to think about it first and see how I felt about things."

"Why don't you go have lunch at Miguel's office and I'll watch the kids while you two talk about this?"

"Are you sure?"

"I'm sure honey. This needs to be talked about so that they can look at other options if you don't want to do this."

"I wonder if Ryan has a cousin that would do this for them?"

"I don't know but you'd better talk to your brother."

"I'm going. I'm just going to go tell the kids where I'm going so they know." Bennie went to the play room and told her children where she was going and hugged and kissed them before she left.

Carmen sighed and hoped they could come up with a solution. She didn't realize what all would possibly come up when Miguel was found out almost thirteen years ago. She hoped Bennie made the right decision for her and not her brother. 

Bennie made it to her brother's work and went up to his office. She knocked on his door and he said, "Come in."

Bennie pushed the door open and saw Ryan sitting next to Miguel at the desk sharing lunch. Ryan looked up and said, "Hey Bennie."

"Hey Ryan. Do you two have any time to talk or are you guys almost done?"

"We still have some time. What's up sis?"

"I wanted to talk to you about what we talked about with the baby."

Miguel swallowed and Ryan pulled him a bit closer for support and Miguel asked, "And?"

"I'll be honest and say that I don't know if I could do it. Becoming a mother and bonding with the baby while it's still inside the body is one of the most special gifts. I know I'd see the child and everything but I'm just being honest.

Miguel came around his desk and sat next to his sister. He wrapped her up in his arms and said, "I know it is. I see you with your children and dream about having that same kind of connection. We'll work with what's comfortable for everyone and if you don't want to do this then we're fine with it. We'll figure something else out."

Bennie looked up at her brother and said, "I'm sorry Miguel."

"It's okay Bennie. We'll just look into adoption and see what happens there." 

A couple of days later at Miguel and Ryan's house Ryan came into their bedroom and found Miguel sprawled on his stomach clenching at a pillow. He went over and laid with him and wrapped his arm around his waist. "Baby are you okay?"

"Yeah, just sad."

"At least your sister was honest with us instead of us going through this and her not letting us raise our child."

"I know. I was hoping she'd say yes though."

"You never know. She might come around to the idea because she would be there throughout their life. Most surrogates don't even see the child they birth."

"I know they don't. Can I be left alone for a while?"

"Sure baby." Ryan kissed his cheek and shoulder and left him to his thoughts.


	4. Chapter 4

Ryan wasn't used to seeing Miguel that upset, especially for that long. It had been two weeks since Bennie had expressed her concerns with the pregnancy and Miguel's mood hadn't much improved. Ryan knew better than to press the issue with Bennie, instead taking matters into his own hands. 

"Hello?"

"Hey Rachel, it's Ryan."

"Ryan! How are you? I haven't heard from you in a while."

Ryan chuckled, giving his cousin a brief update on what he'd been up to. Rachel and Ryan had been really close growing up. She was the first person Ryan felt comfortable enough telling he was bisexual other than Cyril. And since they both took after their mother's, they both possessed that Fitzgerald appearance which Ryan figured would work in his favor. She often got mistaken as Ryan and Cyril's sister. 

"Do you think we could meet up for coffee or something? There's something kinda major I wanted to talk to you about."

"Of course. Name the time and place and I'll be there."

The two met up at this coffee shop near Miguel's work, taking some time to catch up with each other a bit. Ryan cleared his throat, knowing it was now or never to bring it up. 

"The reason I wanted to meet up is because my partner and I want to start a family. His sister was going to be the surrogate for us but backed out at the last minute and I was hoping that maybe you could do it for us?" Ryan ask nervously. "I totally understand if you don't want to, but if you do we'd appreciate it and we'd be willing to pay for anything you might need-"

"Ryan," Rachel said, cutting off his rambling. "Of course I'll do it. And keep your money, I'm doing this so you can be happy."

Ryan let out a sigh of relief, smiling broadly at her. He couldn't wait to tell Miguel.

Ryan asked, "Would you like to meet him?" His leg bouncing with nerves.

"Yeah. I'd love to meet this man that puts that smile on your face." Ryan grinned some more and he took her to Miguel's work. People would stop Ryan and ask where he kept his sister hiding and they'd laugh as he'd tell them she was his cousin. He knocked on Miguel's door and Miguel looked up from the phone call he was on and smiled. He motioned to the couch while he finished up. 

Ryan came in and pulled his cousin around the corner and they sat down. Rachel nudged Ryan's side and looked at Miguel then she nodded her approval. Ryan grinned and let out a soft chuckle. 

A few minutes later Miguel hung up and said, "Sorry about that. How's your day Ryan?"

"It's actually been very awesome and you'll like it. Maybe even love it..."

"What am I loving today?" Miguel asked as he looked between Ryan and Rachel.

"Can I get a kiss first?" Ryan asked as he waggled his eyebrows.

"I think you should give him a kiss." Rachel said.

"Okay." Miguel walked around his desk and went over to Ryan and said, "Just one." He leaned down and Ryan pulled him into a deep kiss. Miguel returned the kiss and pulled away. "What is this news you have baby?"

"Rachel has agreed to have a baby for us."

Miguel glanced at Rachel and asked, "Rachel?"

"Yeah. I'm Ryan's cousin."

"Okay. I'm Miguel his lover."

"It's nice meeting you Miguel." She held her hand out and they shook hands.

"You too Rachel. Have you two talked about compensation or anything?"

"Yeah and I told him to keep all of your alls money. I want you two to be happy that's all."

"That's very kind of you but we'll at least take care of doctor's visits and the such."

Rachel saw that Miguel wouldn't budge on the concept and said, "Okay."

The three talked about details and when they wanted things to happen and Miguel made an appointment with their doctor to have her examine Rachel and recommend an OB-GYN for her pregnancy. 

Miguel hadn't had a warm reception into the O' Reily family but meeting Rachel changed his mind. He liked her laid back kind of go with the flow attitude and her zest for living. He also found her to be very smart like Ryan and knew that the baby would be a product of love in every sense of the world. While Ryan held Miguel on his lap Rachel had stayed close too, which Miguel figured out was an O' Reily trait if they liked you to any capacity.

It was about two weeks before Rachel had her first appointment where her doctor deemed her fit enough to conceive. Miguel had given some of his sperm already so it was just a matter of when they wanted to go through with the insemination. 

Ryan and Miguel wanted to get the process going as soon as possible, but they wanted to make sure it was all good timing for Rachel as well. 

"What if it doesn't work?" Miguel asked on their way back from the doctors. "What if we're just not meant to have our own kids?"

Ryan glanced over at his lover, noticing the stressed look on his face. He reached for his hand, giving his fingers a squeeze. 

"It'll work, Miguel. These doctors do this every day, they know exactly when the best time for Rachel to get pregnant is."

Miguel stayed quiet, not wanting to bring up his concerns about miscarriage. His sister had dealt with 2 and he saw how badly that effected her and her husband. He shook the thoughts from his head, trying to keep positive. 

The process of getting pregnant took longer than the three of them had anticipated, two months with no results. Miguel was starting to doubt if it'd ever happen at all, but Ryan was still as optimistic as ever. 

The two were laying in bed watching a movie when the phone rang. Miguel made no effort to reach for the phone, keeping his head resting on Ryan's chest. Ryan shifted a bit, picking up on the last ring. 

"Hello?"

"I'm pregnant."

"Let me put you on speaker." He nudged Miguel and said, "Baby good news. She's pregnant." Miguel looked between the phone and Ryan and fainted. Ryan laid him on his back and set the phone down. "Hey Rach...you still there?"

"Yeah I'm here. What happened?"

Ryan chuckled and said, "My dear boyfriend fainted when I told him the news." He shook Miguel and said, "Baby can you hear me?"

Miguel stirred and asked, "Baby?"

"Yeah. We're going to be parents." Ryan said as he looked over his lover worriedly.

Miguel pulled his lover down and kissed his mouth. "That's wonderful."

"Rachel's still on the phone. I don't think she wants to hear us have sex."

Rachel laughed and said, "Not today guys."

"Hey Rachel how'd you like to meet everyone?" Ryan asked.

"That'd be great Ryan. You two have been keeping this hush-hush for a while."

"We didn't want to jinx ourselves. Do you know how far you are?" Miguel asked. 

"Not yet. I just took a home pregnancy test and will get confirmation in a couple of days at my doctor's appointment. I took three different tests though to confirm before I called with the good news."

Miguel looked at Ryan and grinned. "We're going to be parents."

"Yes we're going to be parents. Come on let's get changed and go to the bar. Everyone should be there anyway."

"What time do you want me to meet you guys there?" Rachel asked.

"It'll take us about thirty five minutes total."

"'Kay. See you there." Then Rachel hung up on her end. 

Miguel and Ryan got up and pulled on some clothes and Ryan gathered their jackets and his keys. He looked at Miguel and asked, "You going to be okay?"

"I'm good now. I was just really surprised."

"All right baby." Ryan handed his jacket to Miguel and they went to the bar. 

At the bar, Rachel made it first and ordered a water to sip on for the night. Chris walked over and asked, "What's a pretty lady like yourself only drinking water for?"

Rachel knew his type and the sly smile he gave and said, "You'll know soon enough."

"Oohhh building up the anticipation. I like this already."

"Well I wouldn't get too comfortable."

"Why do I get the feeling you know who I am?"

"Because I'm Ryan's cousin. He tells me about all of his friends."

"I knew you looked familiar. Never seen you here though so why now?"

"This is where they told me to meet them so here I am."

"Well then. I'm Chris. Would you like to go sit with the group and they'll find you when they fall out of bed."

"When they fall out of bed?" She laughed.

"They try to out-sex me and my boyfriend Toby."

"Ah and here I thought you were straight." She said sarcastically.

"You don't have to get snippy."

"I'm not snippy, just stating things how I see them."

"All right. You're definitely an O' Reily. Let's go sit at the table and wait on them."

"Testing me huh? I'm glad I passed." 

Chris led her over to the group and he said, "Hey guys. I'd like to introduce O' Reily's cousin..."

"I'm Rachel Fitzgerald. How are you guys tonight?"

"We're good. I'm Sean Murphy and my partner Tim McManus."

"Nice to meet you guys." She shook their hands and Sean pulled a seat out for her to sit down.

Chris pointed to Toby and said, "That's my lover Toby Beecher. Miguel works with him."

"That's cool."

A few minutes later Ryan and Miguel came in and went over to the table, Miguel pulling Rachel into a hug and said, "You are such a godsend honey." He kissed her cheek and sat next to her. Ryan hugged her too and sat next to Miguel.

"What's going on?" Tim asked looking around the table.

"Should we tell them?" Rachel asked looking at the two men beaming with happiness.

"Please tell us. I haven't seen either of you this bouncy or happy in a long time."

Ryan grinned some more and looked over at Sean and said, "You haven't seen us have sex so you wouldn't know about happy or bouncy."

"Stop it will you." Miguel admonished hitting his shoulder.

"Wait til we get back home baby." Ryan chuckled.

"Shall I tell them or do you want to?" Rachel asked.

"Rachel's pregnant." Miguel said beaming brighter than even before.

"Pregnant?" Toby asked.

"Yeah my sister couldn't help us so Ryan called his cousin and she's helping us start the family we both want." Miguel replied.

"You mean your sister didn't want to help." Chris said.

"She had her reasons which is understandable." Miguel said.

Ryan pulled Miguel close and laced their fingers together. He whispered, "He doesn't know shit."

"I know." Miguel said.

Rachel looked at Chris and said, "You're not very nice to anybody are you?"

Chris looked at her and noticed the familiar O' Reily anger coming out and said, "No I'm not."

"Well get off your high horse and leave Miguel alone. Whatever his sister's reasons, they're hers. Nothing wrong with that."

"Maybe you need to butt out of people's business when you don't know them." Chris said as he stood up.

"I'm not butting into any business but my own so you need to chill the hell out!" Rachel said as she stood up as well.

Ryan and Miguel could sense something about to happen without an intervention and so they stood as well. Ryan taking Rachel to the side and Miguel going up to Chris and said, "Remember what happened months ago. I won't hesitate man."

"Miguel Alvarez you better back off of Chris." Toby yelled.

Ryan gave his cousin a look and she sat at another table but still able to see what was going on and Ryan took control of the matter. "This is getting fucking ridiculous! We have good news to tell you and it blows up into another fight!"

Everyone looked over at Ryan and Toby went to open his mouth. Ryan glared and said, "No you're not going to talk." He looked over at Chris and asked, "What the hell is your problem with us? You two set us the fuck up! We found we had a lot of the same goals in life and we're very much in love with each other! We wanted a family and my cousin could help us so we're having a baby! I thought it would be fine for her to meet people that we've known for years but obviously not so until you all can pull the sticks out of your asses we'll be going."

Miguel moved away from Chris and the table and went over to where Rachel was sitting. He sat next to her and held her close. One hand stroked her stomach and the other rested on her back. "You okay hon?" He asked quietly.

"I'm good but Chris needs to grow up."

"Don't let him stress you and the baby."

"I'm not worried about him. He should know not to pick on O' Reily blood. If I wasn't pregnant I'd have shown him a thing or two."

"Ryan'll take care of him."

They looked back at the table and heard Chris shout, "What's my problem? My problem is the fact that we expected you two to fuck and move on! Not become the gay version of the Cleaver family!..."

"So you're pissed that we're starting a family and we've moved to the outskirts of the city so we could raise the baby? That we are happy and hardly fight except over really stupid shit? You need to live your own life man." Ryan yelled.

Ryan looked over at Sean and Tim and said, "If you guys don't figure out what the hell's going on with him then expect me to pull out my portion of the business and go find something else to do."

"You're going to have a kid..."

"I created this bar from the ground up. I can find something else to do so we'll be okay. I'm just tired of the drama going on especially when we didn't start anything. We're going to go home now and I'll call you next week to check on things."

Ryan went over to the table Rachel and Miguel were sitting at pulled the two of them close to him. "Come on. We can have a movie night with popcorn and root beer floats." Rachel suggested.

"Sounds good Rachel. You can stay in the guest room tonight."

She smiled and pulled the two men up and they left the bar without looking back.

The fight had left a bad taste in everyone's mouths, no one willing to back down or apologize. Tim and Sean were being directly affected by it, Ryan refusing to show up to meetings and only working whenever Chris was off. They knew without his share, they'd have a hard time keeping the bar going. They contemplated just firing Chris, but without probable cause, they didn't see that work. 

Over on Miguel's end, things were even worse. Because of the tension with Chris, Toby hadn't spoken to Miguel at all. He sent Miguel all the bad cases or made him work with other people. It pissed the Latino off and the fact that he now had a child on the way was the only thing keeping him from just walking out. 

He and Ryan had just dropped Rachel off at her place after a doctor’s appointment. She was about 10 weeks along at this point and still not showing. Neither man could wait to see a bump start coming through, the physical evidence really driving the fact they were having a child into their minds. 

They were quiet as they headed back home. That wasn't uncommon since the fight in the bar; Ryan was being stubborn with going to work, Miguel was unhappy with his own job. The whole ordeal was causing a strain on their relationship, fights breaking out over the smallest of things. Miguel looked over to Ryan. 

"I want to quit my job."

"I know, babe. I know," Ryan said, letting out a sigh. "I wanna leave mine too, but its just not practical right now. We're having a kid, we just bought a house...that'd be financial suicide."

Miguel rolled his eyes. They'd had this conversation once before, Ryan not even giving Miguel a chance to voice his opinion. He wasn't gonna let it go this time. 

"Ryan, with both of our degrees, we can find new jobs, no problem," Miguel said. "Hell, we could start our business if we wanted to. All I know is we need some kind of change before we go crazy."

Ryan didn't respond, thinking over Miguel's statement. He was right, they could start their own business or open up another bar or restaurant, no problem. It was just a matter of planning and when and how they should do it. Miguel took Ryan's silence as a bad sign, sighing and staying silent the rest of the ride. 

A few hours later, Ryan had spoken to Sean and expressed his interest in possibly opening a second bar, a sister bar to their original one. Sean seemed to think it was a good idea, but it'd be a while before it could be up and running. Miguel was laying on the couch watching the news when Ryan came in, sitting next to him, resting Miguel's feet in his lap. 

"I thought about what you said earlier."

That seemed to get Miguel's attention. "And?"

"You're right. I talked to Sean and if you're on board, I want to open another bar with just you and I running things."

"And we can ban Chris and Toby from there?" Miguel said.

"Eh...maybe not ban," Ryan said rubbing his neck, "but we don't have to employ either of them."

"I can handle that and if they cause trouble just like any other patron I can throw them out right?"

Ryan looked at his lover and seen he was being serious but with some humor underlying it. "If things get really bad sure."

Miguel sat up and kissed Ryan. "I'm holding you to it baby."

Ryan surprised by the kiss chased after Miguel's mouth to pull him back in. "I love you."

"I love you too." Miguel said as he wrapped his arms around Ryan's shoulders.


	5. Chapter 5

A couple of mornings later Miguel came out of their bedroom in just his boxers and found that Ryan had Sean and Tim over looking over a few papers. Ryan looked up and said, "Morning baby."

"Morning. I'll be right back." Miguel went back into their room and pulled on some jeans and a t-shirt before coming back out. 

Sean looked over at Miguel and said, "Not going to let us enjoy the view man?"

Tim smacked Sean and said, "I don't think you should be enjoying his view."

"I know. I'm playing."

Miguel leaned down next to Ryan and pulled him into a soft kiss. Ryan kissed him back and said, "I love you."

"I love you too. What are you looking at?"

Ryan looked at the papers and said, "Pulling enough out of the bar so we can look for space to make our restaurant a possibility. I don't have a beef with them so I'm leaving enough of mine to get them through the rest of the year and they're on their own after that. They're cool with it and we can all be happier."

"You're pulling your share from the bar?"

"Yeah. I've been looking around while you've been at work and found a few spots I want you to look at. Let me know what you think."

"Yeah we can do that. When did you have in mind?"

"Later on today after lunch since we'll both be home."

"Sounds good. I'm going to go eat and then go to the basement while you get this stuff squared away."

"Okay baby. See you in a bit."

Ryan kissed Miguel again and Miguel left the room.

Later that day, the couple went to a few properties around town. There were two that really interested them, but it was still going to be a while before they made any serious offers. 

"I really liked the one in Manhattan. It was in a good location, we'd get a lot of traffic coming through."

"I liked that one too, baby," Miguel said as they made it back home. "Its just kinda pricey in that area. The one in Queens might be a better place to start with our budget."

Ryan groaned knowing the Latino was right. The Queens property was bad, but that Manhattan one just felt right. He decided to put the thought behind him, wanting to focus on Miguel instead. The two had missed their one-year anniversary in all the drama and stress with their jobs and the baby. Ryan wanted to do something special since they'd been fighting a lot. He wanted to show Miguel how much he loved him even with all the new things going on around them. 

Miguel headed toward their room, pulling his coat and shirt off on the way. Ryan bit his bottom lip as he watched his lover strip and followed behind closely, deciding his plans for their anniversary could wait; there were more pressing matters at hand.

A few weeks later Miguel asked, "Where are you going?"

"Just somewhere. I'll be back shortly."

Miguel looked at Ryan's clothes for the day and said, "Nothing dangerous right?"

Ryan taken aback said, "No, nothing dangerous baby."

Miguel walked over to him and pulled him into a kiss and said, "Okay. I'll be waiting for you when you get back home."

"I'll be looking forward to it baby."

A couple of days later Ryan went to Miguel's job a couple of hours before he was supposed to get off and knocked on his office door. Miguel looked up and smiled. "Hey amante."

"Hey babe. Are you super busy today?"

"Why?"

"Just thought maybe you'd want to get out of here a couple of hours early today."

"I'd like to do that everyday but what's special about today?"

"I want to show you something."

"Okay. Let me finish what I'm working on and we can get out of here."

"Will it be a while?"

"Should be maybe twenty minutes or so. Why? What's got you so nervous?" Miguel asked looking over Ryan.

"I'm not nervous and I can wait twenty minutes."

"Why don't you go to the break room? I brought in that salad you made for lunch. I still have some leftover."

"That's okay. I'm not hungry right now." Ryan said as he sat on the couch he liked and picked up an economics magazine.

"Okay." Miguel got back to his work and finished almost thirty minutes later to Ryan's knee bouncing and the slow flip of the magazine pages. Miguel closed his file drawer a little louder than necessary and said, "I'm done."

Ryan shot off the couch and said as he held his hand out, "Let's go." Miguel took his hand and Ryan pulled him behind quickly.

On the street Miguel tugged Ryan to a stop and pulled him close. "What's the matter honey?"

Ryan saw Miguel's concern but smiled and said, "Nothing. I'm just excited. You'll like this."

Ryan kissed Miguel and led him along slower than before and they enjoyed the train ride out to Queens. Ryan took Miguel to the restaurant space they were looking at and he had Miguel close his eyes once they were inside. "Why are we here?"

"You'll see." Ryan laughed. He took Miguel back to the kitchen area and sat him down at a table. "Open your eyes amor."

Miguel opened his eyes and took in the clean kitchen and new appliances and someone working behind the grill creating something that smelled really good to him. "This is what you've been doing for the last few weeks?"

Ryan grinned and said, "Yeah. I know I said I really wanted the Manhattan site but you're right. We need to start here. As I was cleaning the kitchen up and getting supplies in it started feeling like home like our home does."

"This looks very nice and I see you have a few things I picked out in the design as well." Miguel said as he noticed how the kitchen looked.

"Definitely baby."

"And who may I ask is cooking our food?"

"That's Tony, he's a line cook at the bar but was trained as a sous chef. I told him this would be his audition as our main cook here and you had to okay it."

"And how do I okay it?" Miguel asked making an 'okay' gesture.

"Well if you're impressed with dinner and dessert then we can try a trial period when the bar is complete. He's good but I want you to try it out first."

"I'll try my best."

After a few minutes Tony had their plates made up and took them over. "Here you go sirs. Ryan told me your favorite meal so that's what I pulled from. I hope you enjoy it."

Miguel looked at the food and said, "I think I'll enjoy this. Thanks Tony." Tony left the restaurant and Miguel asked, "This looks really good. Thanks Ryan."

Ryan reached for Miguel's hand and said, "Happy anniversary baby." The two ate their meal and Ryan got up to go get their desserts that Tony made and brought them to the table. He set them down on the table and bent down to one knee by Miguel. He pulled a black velvet box out of his pocket and asked, "Will you marry me?"

Miguel dropped his fork onto his plate, staring like a deer in headlights at the kneeling Irishman. He hadn't expected the proposal; the whole date and everything were perfect. He leaned forward and pressed a long kiss to Ryan's lips, showing as much passion as he could with it. When he pulled back, he let a small smile spread across his face. 

"Of course, Ryan."

Ryan let out a short laugh, putting the ring on Miguel's finger and pulling his lover into a tight embrace. They held each other for a few moments, reveling in the happy feelings. 

They pulled apart and quickly finished their desserts, wanting to head home for a proper celebration as fast as possible. 

When they finally rested, it was well into the early hours of the morning. Miguel laid back, tired yet satisfied. He let his eyes drift to the clock and let out a groan, having to be up for work in a few short hours. Ryan emerged from the bathroom and laid next to the Latino, pulling the blanket tightly around them. He rested his head in the crook of Miguel's neck, pressing his lips to his pulse. 

"I am not looking forward to work in a few hours," Miguel muttered, on the edge of sleep. 

"Call in."

"Can't. I have an important case I'm working on." He shut his eyes, feeling the effects of sleep pulling him under. 

The next morning Miguel sat in his office trying to stay awake and looking over some files. He heard a knock at his door and glanced up, a bit shocked to see Toby there. 

"You almost done with that case?"

Miguel nodded, pushing to folder to the edge of his desk before looking back down at his work. Toby had spent as little time with Miguel as possible since their fight so Miguel wasn't too sure why he was here now. 

"I've never seen you wearing rings before."

Miguel put his pen down and looked up at the other man. 

"Ryan proposed to me last night."

"What? Why didn't you tell me sooner?"

"You haven't been talking to me, didn't think you'd care."

Toby picked up the file and said, "Well congratulations." Then he walked out of Miguel's office.

Miguel just sighed and went back to his work.

At the bar that night Toby was sitting around with Sean, Tim, and Chris while drinking. "Where's Ryan tonight?"

"Said he was busy making something for Miguel." Sean said.

"He always has something he's doing and it's always for Miguel."

"What has you pissed off?" Tim asked Toby.

"Ryan proposed to Miguel last night."

"That's great." Sean said. "He's been looking for that stability for a long time."

"They both have and with the baby coming I was wondering if they were going to get married or not." Tim said glancing around the table and picking his beer up.

"Well Ryan's not a partner in this bar anymore so how does he have any income for any of this?" Chris said.

"Ryan is still a partner in this bar but by a much smaller percent and the rest we can't contractually talk about so sorry we can't help there. If he wants you to know he can tell you but we can't."

"He put a gag order on you two over our spats."

"No we put the gag order in the contract ourselves. We aren't getting in the middle of all this bullshit. We all have our lives and if they want the house with the picket fence, kids, and marriage so be it. Tim and I have been together so long we're fine either way."

"They've been together fourteen months and already have a house, a baby on the way, and will eventually get married. That seems like they're moving really fast."

"Toby it's what they want. If they want to be sleep deprived for at least five years and everything else that comes along with being parents let them be." Sean said.

"Why don't we just shut up about Alvarez and O' Reily. They don't have much to do with us anymore so why should we care about what they do?"

"They've went this road by themselves for the most part. They are moving on with their lives and we should too." Tim said.

"When the baby comes if they need anything I'll be there for them. You guys can do your thing because you seem very set on that. Setting them up and then being pissed because they're serious about each other enough to marry and have a family and trust that that person will be there for them is ridiculous. You should be their strongest supporters but you've turned into bitchy, snippy people bullying them in their own house and shit."

"Are you going to start something with us too?" Chris asked.

"Nope just stating facts and if you're pissed walk out the door."

"You're absolutely right. We should be supporting them but what the hell have they done for us. They've picked fights too."

"They haven't picked fights with you two." Sean said. He looked over at Tim and asked, "You gonna lock up?"

"Yeah I can."

"All right. I love you baby. I'm going to go home." Sean said. He leaned down and kissed Tim quickly.

"Love you too babe." Sean left the bar.

At Ryan and Miguel's house, Rachel stopped over to show them the growing bump. She hadn't seen them since the doctor's appointment a few weeks previous because everyone's schedules had been hectic. She knocked on the door and Miguel answered the door. "Hey Rachel." He pulled her into a hug.

"Hey Miguel. Is Ryan here too?"

"Yeah. He's in the bedroom. I'll go get him." He walked into their room while she got comfortable on the couch. "Hey baby. Rachel's here."

Ryan said, "Damn. I'm glad she's here but slightly bad timing."

"You want some help amante."

"To feel your mouth would be amazing but you said Rachel was here and I want to see the baby progress."

"She's a patient person so she won't mind waiting five minutes." Miguel grinned.

"Are you sure?"

"I'm sure baby and we got all night for your other plans."

"Why are you still talking then?" Ryan panted.

A few minutes later Miguel and Ryan came out with Ryan wrapped around Miguel as he kissed and sucked gently on the back of his neck. Rachel saw them and said, "You two are the horniest people I've ever seen."

Ryan stepped away from Miguel and grinned. "It's good to see you too Rachel." He leaned down and hugged her. "Sorry we haven't stopped by."

"It's okay. We've all been really busy."

"You and the baby okay?"

"Yes we're perfectly fine. My morning sickness has finally eased up so I'm starting to get more energy again."

The two men sat around Rachel on the couch and Miguel asked, "Are you starting to show?"

"Yeah. Since the last appointment my stomach has grown a lot it seems."

"Can we see?"

"Of course you can see." Rachel said. She raised her shirt enough to show her stomach and Miguel warmed his hands up before touching her stomach. He rubbed gently and leaned down to see if he could hear anything.

"Nothing yet." Miguel chuckled.

The two laughed too and Ryan ran his hand over her stomach and laced his fingers with Miguel's resting them over the baby. "There's a little 'us' in there. I can't wait to see him or her."

"Me either baby."

Rachel looked at the laced fingers and saw Miguel's ring and asked, "What's the news fellas?"

"News? Oh yeah. Ryan asked me to marry him last night."

"Congratulations you two. I'm so happy for you." She pulled them into a group hug and they hugged her back.

"Thanks Rachel."

"Have you guys talked about when you want to get married or anything?"

"We haven't made it that far."

"But we're getting to that conversation."

"Just let me know if you need any help or anything."

Ryan looked at his cousin and said, "You are doing plenty of work for us which we appreciate and we already love the baby and you very much for doing this."

"My Christmas present to you guys." She laughed.

"Are you hungry? We were about to make dinner." Miguel asked.

"Yeah just nothing too heavy. That stuff hasn't been sitting well."

"No problem. Let's go to the kitchen and we'll find something."

The couple hadn't really thought too much about their wedding, putting it on the back burner for the time being. With the moves to get the restaurant open and buying things for the baby, they didn't have the time or money they wanted to dedicate toward their wedding. 

Miguel was finishing up his last case for the day when his phone rang. 

"Hello?"

"Hey Miguel," Rachel's cheery voiced chirped through the receiver. "Not sure if you wanted to know or not, but I found out the sex of the baby today."

"Oh really?" Miguel said through a grin. He knew he wanted to know, but he wasn't sure how Ryan felt on the matter. "Should we start buying things in pink or blue?"

"You know, greens and yellows are nice too..."

Miguel groaned at her intentional stalling and she laughed at his impatience. 

"Start collecting dolls and dresses, its a girl."

Miguel's smile grew wider at the news. He would've been thrilled either way but he'd secretly always wanted a daughter, knowing the bond between a father and his daughter was something special. 

"You just made my day, Rachel. I gotta go, I need to tell Ryan."

Ryan was sitting on the laptop when Miguel came home. He'd been looking at some spots for their honeymoon whenever they did decide to get married. He definitely wanted to do it before the baby was born, but he also didn't want to rush it either. He wanted everything to be perfect for them. He glanced up when his love entered the room, noticing the smile he loved so much shining even brighter today. 

"What's got you in such a good mood?" Ryan asked. "Other than seeing me."

Miguel chuckled, slapping Ryan in the shoulder. 

"I found out the sex of the baby today."

Ryan nodded for him to continue. 

"It's a girl."

"You're shitting me right? We're having a little girl?"

Miguel leaned down and kissed him as he said, "We are having baby girl."

"That is wonderful. We'll have to buy bows that match the clothes we bought." Ryan laughed.

Miguel chuckled too and kissed him again. He glanced at the computer and saw a beach on the screen. "And what has my big baby been looking at?"

Ryan saw his grin and said, "I was looking at honeymoon spots."

"That actually looks promising baby. With you getting the restaurant set up and our baby girl coming we might want to take that early so we can be here for our daughter. I'd like her to actually be born when we get married so she can be there."

"Me too. It wouldn't feel right without her in the audience."

"So we have an idea of when our wedding will be now and we should be planning this beach trip for soon if we want to enjoy some water before it gets too cold."

"Can't have you cold can I?" Ryan said as he wrapped his arms around Miguel's waist.

"That wouldn't be advisable." Miguel said as he bit his lip.

"Do you trust me enough to plan our honeymoon?" Ryan asked.

"Yes within reason."

"I know amor. Give me some time to look and I'll let you know when to request off."

"Okay baby." 

A couple of days later Miguel called Ryan from work. "Hey babe."

"Hey Ryan just letting you know that I got a call from Father Ray this morning and he wanted to talk to us about our baby girl and stuff."

"That's fine. When does he want to chat?"

"I invited him to dinner tonight. To get it out of the way and all."

"That's fine and I found some place that I think we will both enjoy for our honeymoon a month from now."

"All right. I'll let them know. How many days?"

"A full seven days."

"Okay amante. I love you."

"I love you too. I'll see you later."

That night Father Ray came by Ryan and Miguel's new home for the first time. He looked around saw the porch and a good acre the house sat on which impressed him this close to the city. He knocked on the front door and waited to be let in. Ryan answered the door and said, "Hey Ray. Welcome to the new house."

"Thanks Ryan. It looks really nice."

"We love it Ray. We have enough space for us and more kids if we want more in the future."

"It's definitely a family house and you two will make a very loving family home for your kids."

"Thanks Ray. I'll get Miguel. The kitchen's right through there. Make yourself at home." Ryan pointed to the kitchen entrance.

A few minutes later Ryan and Miguel came into the kitchen and found Ray sitting at the table with a classic glass bottle of coke in his hand. He looked up and said, "Hey Miguel. You two have a very nice home here."

"Thanks Father."

Miguel sat across from Ray and Ryan got plates and the casserole dish to the table. He got some milk for himself and Miguel and sat next to Miguel. "Dig in Ray. There's plenty to go around." Ryan said.

After plates were made Ray said, "Have you two thought about christening the baby when she's born?"

"We've been thinking about it. We want to get married after she's born and then maybe do the christening after we get married."

"So you want to have the christening the same day as your wedding?"

"We might as well. Everyone will be there and we don't have to plan several things for throughout the year." Miguel said as he ate his dinner.

"Okay. This will give me some prep time for both ceremonies. Will her mother be there?"

"Yes my cousin will be at the wedding." 

"Good. Good." Ray said.

They continued to eat dinner and Ryan and Miguel told Ray that they would be getting married on a Saturday and that the Christening could be the next Sunday after mass since most of the family would still be there from the wedding. The two showed Ray out after dinner and Ryan asked Miguel, "What's the matter Miguel? You've never called Ray Father so much in an evening."

Miguel let out a sigh, running a hand through his short hair. 

"I just wasn't certain he'd agree to do the ceremony for us..."

Ryan let out a short laugh of disbelief. "Are you serious?"

"It's against his religion, Ryan. I wasn't sure if he was even allowed to marry two men or not, whether he's close to us or not."

"Well, you don't have anything to worry about it now," Ryan said, pulling him close for a gentle kiss. "Not that you should've worried anyway..."

Miguel rolled his eyes, pressing another kiss to Ryan's lips, shutting him up.


	6. Chapter 6

The following Monday, Miguel returned to his office and approached Toby about taking some vacation time. 

"Just giving you a heads up, I'm gonna be using a week of my vacation time starting the 23rd, so that should give you enough time to have someone take over my workload."

Toby nodded his head. "A week, huh? Where are you going?"

"Ryan and I are going to Costa Rica for our honeymoon."

"Honeymoon?" Toby asked in confusion. "You guys got married already?"

Miguel could hear the hurt in his voice, knowing the other man was assuming they'd gotten married without his involvement. He kept the small smile hidden, clearing up the misunderstanding. 

"We're doing the honeymoon before the baby gets here. We won't have any alone time once she's born and all."

"Oh," Toby said, a hint of relief in the response. "So you found out the sex? Could've said something about it before..."

Miguel rolled his eyes. "We just found out a few days ago. Not even Sean and Tim know yet. Besides, you and Chris have made it clear you want no part in what goes on with our lives so why bother?"

The last part came off a bit harsher than he'd intended but he didn't care, it was how he felt. Toby and Chris had been nothing but rude the last few months and for Toby to be upset that he wasn't in the loop anymore pissed Miguel off. 

"Whatever. Have fun on your vacation, Alvarez. We'll talk when you get back."

With that, Toby went back to his work, ignoring the fact that the other man was even in the room. Miguel held his tongue and turned on his heel, heading to his office. He pulled his phone from his pocket, wanting to talk to Ryan. The other man always knew how to calm him when he was upset. 

"Hello?"

"I got the okay for vacation."

Miguel's voice was flat and void of any emotion, a tip off to Ryan that he was bothered by something. 

"What's wrong, babe?"

"Can you come down here for a bit? Toby pissed me off earlier and I just really want to see you and not think about it for a while."

"I'll be there soon. I love you."

"Love you too, baby."

Ryan hurried to Miguel's job and as he walked down the hall with his office in it, one of his co-workers stopped Ryan and said, "Toby pissed Miguel off again. Miguel's not screaming and yelling at people but he's not smiling like normal."

"What'd Toby do?"

"I don't know but Miguel just went to his office and closed himself in."

"Toby in his office?"

"Yeah."

"Tell Miguel I'm here if you see him. I'll be back in a few minutes."

"Okay."

Ryan doubled back to the main area of the firm and went to Toby's office. He saw Toby on the phone and was kind enough to let him finish with the phone call. Toby hung the phone up and looked at Ryan surprised to see him in his doorway. "Hey Ryan." He said uneasily.

Ryan walked into the office and closed the door before he stalked over to Toby's desk. He leaned across it and braced his hands on the top as he glared at Miguel's once best friend. Toby swallowed and leaned away from Ryan.

"What the fuck did you say to Miguel to make him mad?" 

"I didn't say anything."

"As soon as you okay-ed his honeymoon he called me. What did you say?"

"He mentioned you guys going on your honeymoon and I asked if you two got married already. He said no, that you two were waiting until after your daughter is born."

"I get what you're doing Toby. Don't play the hurt victim in all this shit because you aren't! You and Chris set us up and now want nothing to do with us! Why?"

"It isn't that..."

Ryan went around the desk and picked Toby up by his collar. "Just because you two aren't the center of every fucking universe doesn't mean you two can or need to be shitting on everyone else's. The last fifteen fucking months of our lives have been challenging and great and rewarding. Yet we can't share hardly any of it because you two roll everything back around to you two. I don't know how we can still even respect either of you but we do. You two have everything but whatever's going on between you two you need to fix it."

Then Ryan took a deep breath and let go of Toby's collar. Toby went to open his mouth but Ryan said, "Don't even think about it. Let me finish. Both of us want you two at our wedding. I see Miguel making lists and small notes all the time when he doesn't think anyone's watching or knows and he wants you there. You piss him off every time you brush one of his comments away like it doesn't mean anything and I'm personally tired of seeing him tore up over stupidity so use that muscle we call a brain and think for a single minute or second that if this was reversed if we'd be here for you and Chris. We would and you know it so pull the fucking stick out of your ass and see us."

Toby nodded and Ryan left the office. He went back to Miguel's and knocked softly on the door. "Come in."

Ryan went in and shut the door and kept the blinds shut so they had privacy. "Hey baby. Sorry I wasn't here sooner. I went to talk to Toby first."

Miguel glanced up at Ryan and asked, "Why'd you talk to Toby first?"

"Because I'm tired of them making our lives hell and I'm tired of you hurting all the time because you can't share news with him like you used to be able to do. I didn't let him say much of anything though, just got my message across and hopefully he thinks about it."

Miguel got up from his desk and went around so he could pull Ryan close. He kissed Ryan's throat as he worked them back towards the couch in his office. The two tumbled onto it and Ryan held Miguel close while he enjoyed the ministrations.

The rest of Miguel's day went off without a hitch. Ryan had left a few hours before which gave Miguel a chance to actually get some work done for the day. Just as he was packing up to head home, he heard on knock on the door before Toby poked his head in. 

"Can we talk?"

Miguel let out a sigh but nodded anyway. The other man took a seat, looking Miguel square in the eyes. 

"I want to apologize. And not just for today or because Ryan came and talked to me," he said, choosing his words wisely. "Ever since you and Ryan started getting more serious, I've been acting like an asshole. I admit, seeing you guys do so well so quickly made me jealous. Chris and I have been together nearly 10 years and we're still in an apartment, no talk of marriage, and no kids ever. You're living the life I wish I had and I guess seeing how happy the two of you are really bothered me."

Miguel sat quietly, letting the other man finish. 

"I can't speak for Chris but I wanted to come to you as a man and say I am so sorry for all the conflict and hurt I've put you and Ryan through. It was selfish and for me to treat you of all people like that is unacceptable. I hope you can find it in you to accept my apology."

Miguel was stunned. In all the years he'd known Toby and all the spats they'd been in, he'd never received an apology like this. He nodded his head, standing up to pull his friend into a hug. 

"Of course I forgive you, Tobe."

Miguel felt like a weight had been lifted off of him as he headed home. He invited Toby to dinner later on that week, the two of them really needing to catch up with each other. He was weary about Chris coming around; he was a major part of why the two couples were squaring off in the first place. He was the ringleader in his and Toby's relationship and Miguel knew he could manipulate his friend to do whatever he wanted. 

He shook the thoughts from his mind, knowing he was getting ahead of himself. He needed to talk to Ryan, let him know how the encounter went.

Once Miguel walked into the house he found that Ryan had set up a nice romantic setting and could smell his favorite foods. He pulled his jacket off and set his briefcase in the chair by the door and walked into the kitchen. He saw Ryan dressed in an apron and a chef hat and he leaned against the doorframe and chuckled.

Ryan turned around and said, "Mi corazon is finally home."

"Si." Miguel went over to Ryan and gave him a kiss.

"Distraction...oohhh." He kissed Miguel back and pulled away reluctantly. "Go get comfortable while I finish dinner."

"Be back shortly." Miguel left Ryan to finishing dinner and he went to change into a pair of comfortable pajama pants and tank top. He went back to the kitchen and sat at the table in his usual seat and Ryan brought over his homemade spaghetti and meatballs to the table. He found a platter-like plate and filled it to the brim with pasta and meatballs. He brought over their favorite seasonings for spaghetti and Miguel just watched his fiancé create his masterpiece. 

When Ryan was done with all the little flourishes he filled two glasses with some Cabernet he had chilled. He finally sat close to Miguel and Miguel asked, "Sharing tonight?"

"Always." Ryan said as he took a sip of wine. 

"Any reason for homemade spaghetti and meatballs or are you going crazy right now?" Miguel asked as he picked his fork up and tasted the wonderful pasta.

Ryan grinned and said, "A little of both I think."

"This is why I love you. Always coming up with surprises and everything." Miguel chuckled.

"I actually have some good news for us."

"Good news?"

"Yeah. We bought the Queens location flat out. It's ours immediately..."

"I know that, I was there when we gave over the check. What else is going on?"

"You know how we went through the Manhattan site and at the time we couldn't afford it."

"Yes and what's changed now? We still can't afford it."

"Well I was able to find an old friend of mine and now we can run two restaurants. He's offered to be a silent partner in the Manhattan site only as we already own the Queens one and after a couple of years if all goes well and according to plan we can return his investment and it'll be all ours, both sites."

"How much money is he giving us to buy it Ryan?"

"We were only short about $20,000 and he has it to offer us."

"What if both restaurants go bust and we can't afford our own roof?"

"They're in great locales and since we're going towards a more family based area then they'll thrive."

"Do I know this investor?"

"No but I've invited him to dinner on Friday so you two could meet and talk about anything you wanted to cover and whatnot."

"I invited Toby over for dinner on Friday."

"Just Toby, no Chris?"

"No. That was my news. Toby came in before I left work today and actually gave me a believable apology about everything going on. I wanted to catch up with him."

"So you guys patched things up on your end?"

"We did for now and he says it's not because of your talk with him or anything like that but something he's wanted to do for a while now."

"That's great. I know you miss Toby. I can reschedule that dinner with Augustus and you and Toby can catch up."

"If he can have lunch on Saturday, that should be good."

"All right. I'll call him and ask him about it."

Friday had finally approached, Miguel making it a point to make Toby's favorite foods and trying to keep it as casual as possible. He really wanted to salvage his friendship with the other man, and at some point get back to how they used to be, best friends who shared everything with the other. He knew it'd take time and that a lot of it wasn't just from Toby's efforts, but also Chris'. Tonight, it was only going to be him and the other man, no Ryan and no Chris. They'd cross that bridge once they managed to fix their own issues. 

Miguel pulled the homemade pizza out of the oven, placing it on the stove to cool. The doorbell rang right after, Toby always having the most impeccable timing of anyone Miguel knew. He pulled open the door, smiling at his friend. 

"Hey Tobe, glad you could make it. Come in, I just took dinner out of the oven."

Toby stepped inside, checking out his surroundings. He hadn't been in the home since Ryan and Miguel had moved in. It was nicely decorated and looked so...homey. Toby felt that small sense of envy again but pushed it down, knowing it would do more harm than good to be jealous over every little thing. 

"The house looks awesome man," he sat at the bar, accepting the drink Miguel had poured for him. "Sorry I haven't been by sooner..."

"Don't worry about it," Miguel said, waving it off. "That's all behind us now."

Miguel brought the pizza to the table, putting a few slices on each of their plates. They settled into some lively conversation, bringing each other up to date on their lives. Miguel was hesitant to tell Toby about their restaurants but figured he owed it to his friend. 

"We bought a location in Queens and we're actually meeting with one of Ryan's friends who wants to be a silent partner in the Manhattan location tomorrow."

"That's fantastic, Miguel," Toby said, genuinely happy for his friend. "Aren't you a bit nervous with that kind of undertaking though?"

"I'd be lying if I said I wasn't," Miguel said, taking a sip of his drink. "We just bought this house, took a leap of faith on these restaurants and have a kid on the way. We literally cannot afford anything to go wrong."

The stress in Miguel's voice was enough to get Toby to change the subject, knowing thinking about things like that could take Miguel to a dark place. The Latino never did handle stress well. 

"Have you thought of any names for the baby?"

By the time Toby left, things felt back to normal. They planned to meet again at Toby and Chris' later that week to get the four of them all on the same page. Miguel had just finished putting the food away and doing dishes when Ryan got home. 

"How was dinner with Toby?" Ryan asked, pulling his coat off and dropping his keys on the counter. 

"It was really nice, actually. We're going over to his and Chris' place next week for dinner."

Ryan didn't look too happy at the mention of Chris' name but kept it to himself. He pulled Miguel into a loose hug, just wanting to be close to his lover. He'd been out of the house all day and all he wanted to do was relax. 

"I miss you today, you know."

"I missed you too, baby," Miguel said pulling away to plant a kiss on Ryan's lips. 

"Why don't we head to bed and I'll show you just how much I missed you?" Ryan said with a devious grin on his face. Miguel smiled back, pulling his horny lover back toward their bedroom.

The next day Miguel was getting ready for his lunch meeting with Augustus when Ryan asked, "You want me to come along?"

Miguel looked at Ryan through the bathroom mirror and said, "I'd love to have you come along but I think it should just be me and him today."

Ryan walked over to Miguel and as he wrapped his arms around Miguel's waist said, "I'll miss you baby."

"I'll miss you too amante. Today when I come home this is where we're staying. No phones, email, interruptions, just us."

"I like the sound of that." Ryan murmured as he kissed along Miguel's collar.

Miguel turned around in Ryan's arms and kissed him deeply before he pushed him away gently. He smiled and said, "Save some of that for later honey. I can't be late to this meeting."

"Augustus would be understanding." Ryan coaxed.

"Yes but I wouldn't be. I'll be back in a few hours and then the rest of the weekend is all for us, okay baby?"

"I know. I'll see you shortly."

"That's my baby." Miguel laughed as he kissed Ryan and slipped out of the bathroom to grab his jacket and he left the house.

He and Augustus chose to meet at a bistro close to the Manhattan site so that they could walk the site after lunch and talk business. He walked into the restaurant and found Augustus to already be waiting on him. Augustus stood and held his hand out for Miguel to shake. "Augustus Hill. Nice to meet you." Augustus said.

Miguel shook his hand and said, "Miguel Alvarez. Nice to meet you too. I hope you haven't been waiting long."

"I've been here a few minutes. Not too long."

The two settled in and ordered lunch from the waitress and Augustus' curiosity got the best of him. "Ryan says you two are about to have a baby girl."

Miguel grinned and said, "Yeah. His cousin is our surrogate and after our daughter is born then we'll be getting married."

"That's great. I'm glad he's found someone to make him happy and settle him down some."

"I'm glad we were introduced. We have so much in common and share a lot the same goals."

"That's what he told me. He said as soon as he saw you he knew you were the one."

"He said that?" Miguel asked.

"He did. He also explained about Toby and Chris treating you two like shit when you guys were moving along with your relationship; you know moving in together and buying the house and having the baby in a few months."

"Yeah they set us up and then when we happened to be moving along so well they started being jerks. We're working on patching things up because I'd like for them to be at our wedding."

"That's cool. You all have been friends for a long time from what Ryan told me."

"Everything will work out how it's supposed to. Now tell me why you're willing to risk your own money in this second site we want?"

"I need to do something else with my life and I've known Ryan since high school."

"What's been going on in your life?"

"You really want to know?"

"You seem to know my current circumstances. I think it's only fair I understand your reasoning behind helping us."

"My wife left me last year and work laid me off six months ago. I was sitting around tinkering around with ideas when a few months ago I get a call from Ryan wanting to catch up. He brings up the restaurants you guys want to open and I've got some extra money."

"Besides helping with money what else did you two talk about with the Manhattan site?"

"Just that I'd look out for the restaurant and keep the books up there..."

"I'll talk to him about that. I've been working on a book keeping system for both places."

"It's all right. You don't trust me. We can work on that because I wouldn't want to screw up the start to your guys' businesses and lives."

"I'm glad you don't see the distrust as a bad sign. You seem all right but this will be our livelihood come the new year and we need things to run smoothly."

"Are you quitting your job?"

"I'm going to have to so I can help. The Queens site is almost done on the inside and now we'll have to focus on this site to get ready to open so it'll take two of us running things during the week."

"Plus the baby's coming around the time all of this is done. Have you guys talked about names for her?"

"A little. I like the names Rosie or Kira. We're still deciding though." Miguel grinned.

"Those are really nice names." The two paid for their lunches and walked over to the Manhattan site and they discussed a lot of things from decor to a possible kitchen set up to what Augustus would be doing for work. They parted on good terms and Miguel went home to Ryan.

When Miguel got home, he found Ryan asleep on the couch, the end credits of some movie scrolling across the screen. He smiled down at his sleeping lover, almost not wanting to wake him to tell him about the meeting with Augustus. He kneeled beside the couch, running his fingers through the Irishman’s short hair. Ryan stirred, slowly waking up from his short nap, eyes focusing on Miguel. “Rise and shine sleepyhead,” Miguel said softly pressing a kiss to his forehead.

“How was the meeting babe?” Ryan asked stretching his lanky limbs. “How do you like Augustus?”

“It went great, I liked the guy. I think he’ll definitely be a great asset in this business,” Miguel said as he took a seat at the end of the couch. “He also told me you knew I was the one you were going to be with forever when you first met me.”

“He said that?” Ryan echoed Miguel’s words from earlier, letting a small smile slip. 

Miguel let out a chuckle pulling the other man close. “I love you so much.”

“I love you too.” Ryan said as he pressed a long drawn out kiss to Miguel’s lips. “Only a little while longer before we can get away for a bit and just enjoy one another.” Miguel let out a satisfied groan, more than grateful for this upcoming and very much needed vacation.


End file.
